


Abandoned souls

by SiberianCypress



Category: Ghost Hunt
Genre: Case Fic, F/M, Fluff, Hauntings, Light Smut, M/M, Paranormal Investigators
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-26
Updated: 2018-11-22
Packaged: 2019-05-14 01:14:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 47,393
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14759793
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SiberianCypress/pseuds/SiberianCypress
Summary: Mai and Naru along with the whole SPR lot accept another, seemingly simple, case. Except it may not be as simple as it seems. With their newly developed relationship, a strange peak in psychic energy and perhaps more in common with the hunters and the hunted, than meets the eye...what could possibly go wrong?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello there again! This is my second case in the same storyline as Spirits of Kin. If you want to fully understand this one, it's probably a good idea to read the prequel first, but it can be read separately ^.^
> 
> This will be a new case with some of the old OC's and maybe some new ones. There will be some limey scenes along the way, so watch out for that if it bothers you ^.^
> 
> Of course I don't own Ghost Hunt in any way, just so you know...

Mai was sitting at her desk, a whole stack of files before her, but somehow she was not in the mood. First snows came two days ago – a little early for the season, but she still gladly watched the snowflakes dance and spin behind the window.

"Mai, tea!" came the usual request form Oliver's office. That was one of the few things, that haven't changed. Four months after the faithful case with Icelandic magic involved, where her stubborn boss finally accepted her feelings and revealed his own, they were slowly getting used to the new status of their relationship.

"Sure, what brand do you want?" she asked getting up to boil the water.

"Anything spicy, maybe the one with cardamom?" one thing that changed – he actually bothered to answer her questions…most of the time.

"Okay!"

"Get a cup for yourself, I want to ask you something." He spoke up again, voice toneless.

Without much complaint Mai prepared the tea and put two cups on the tray. She carefully kicked his office door open and strode in, laying the tray on his large wooden desk carefully. He didn't even lift his head up – as usual. When the cup was finally pushed in front of his nose, the workaholic nodded his thanks wordlessly and after a minute deigned his girlfriend with a look.

"Sooo…what is this about?" Mai asked carefully, the look on his face didn't bid anything good.

"We might get more cases from now on."

"More cases? But why?" That was not exactly what she expected. Curling up in the opposite chair Mai made herself comfortable.

"All over the world people with psychic ability are feeling a sort of peak in energy. Their powers are increasing and in some cases getting out of control. ESP users start to see visions out of the blue, several times a day, mediums get possessed without allowing it and so on. Even old sites of paranormal activity that were dormant for years have become active again."

"How about you, Naru? How is your power doing?" she asked worried – the last time it got out of hand he ended up nearly dying.

"It's fine, Mai. This is mostly ESP users. My psychometry might be bristling a little, but it's nothing I can't handle. "

"You will tell me if something is wrong, now, will you?" she asked surprisingly strictly, still not convinced.

Sighing he looked up at her and instead of answering stood and walked round the table to perch on the side of Mai's chair. Bending down the young scientist kissed her forehead and then held her face up to kiss her lips softly. That was more than enough to shut his stubborn assistant up. He still marvelled at the sight of changing colours on her face – from light beige to pink and eventually scarlet. It never failed to amuse him.

"I will." He answered her almost forgotten question. "But what I wanted to ask was how are your powers reacting? Your abilities were mostly lentient for a long time - you only started to use them recently. So, I want to know do you feel anything. "

"Uh…I might…have more strange dreams, now that you mentioned it…" she stuttered out, still distracted, though Oliver has left her chair in favour of staring at the snow through the window.

"Strange how?" he asked without turning around.

"Well my dreams would normally come only during cases, but now I dream those kinds of dreams even when we don't have a case. But I have no idea what they mean, or are they real at all, so I just…" Mai drifted off not knowing how to explain it. She couldn't tell the difference sometimes, between the dreams connected to cases and just random visions of spirits passing by. Lately her powers became stronger, so she just thought having more dreams is normal.

"Are they violent?" Oliver questioned quietly, breaking her out of her pondering.

"Huh?"

"The dreams. How violent do they get?" he asked in monotone, but Mai has already learned when to pay attention to the words, not the tone. He was worried, or so it seemed.

"Ah…most are okay, I mean they don't bother me much…" She tried to downplay it a bit. It wasn't like she had no bad dreams before - just now it was more often. Still it felt nice to be worried about, especially by Naru. "Aaand … the few really horrible ones I've had…I can always ask Gene to lead me out, and he does. Do you two talk sometimes?"

"We do, but not so often, he's been resting a lot recently. If the dreams get too explicit or you start waking up with bruises I want you to tell me, Mai." The tone was all business, as always. Mai just sighed. _'Why can't he just say 'I'm worried, be safe?'_

"You bet I will. I'm not as stubborn as some of us…" she trailed off teasing.

Getting up Mai walked to the window and hesitantly slid her hands around his arm, squeezing lightly through the black shirt. Touching Oliver whenever she felt like it was still off limits, especially in the office, but Mai enjoyed even the few small privileges she had now. It's more than she could do for years! Still…skin on skin contact was not always pleasant for her whacky boyfriend, so she just figured to let him initiate the barehanded touches most of the time.

"Is that so…"Oliver was smirking barely visibly.

"Ding!"

The little bell at the door rang quietly and Mai had to force herself to let go of the comfortable warmth and go do her job.

Walking into the main space she greeted politely:

"Welcome to Shibuya Psychic Research. Is there something we can do for you?"

"Well I certainly hope so, young lady." Spoke the middle aged man with strange round spectacles "I have heard impressive things about this office, so I am certain you can help me. I am Sawamura Hotarou, an archeologist in a private Kohachi History museum in Aomori." He introduced, bowing politely.

"Very nice to meet you, Sawamura-san, please come in and take a seat. I will call our boss to hear you out in a minute. Would you like some tea? It's snowing really hard outside after all." The new customer just smiled strangely while hanging his coat on the rack. He seemed around fifty, not very tall, but surprisingly healthy looking for a historian. ' _These folks spend all their lives buried in old books, right?_ ' Mai thought distractedly.

"I would be grateful, miss. It is a bit chilly." Swamura-san answered never loosing the small smile. She knocked on both Oliver's and Lin's door to drag them out of their dens to the main room, and finally walked into the kitchen to boil the water. Again. When she walked out with the cups on the tray both men were in position, so to speak, and their guest waited obediently for them to start.

"Now, Sawamura-san, please introduce yourself and tell us what brought you here." Naru started opening his customary black notebook.

"I am Sawamura Hotarou, the chief archeologist and historian in Kohachi History museum in Aomori." The man started in a well practised, pleasant voice. He was clearly used to talk to people, or at least at them. Pushing the spectacles up his long straight nose he continued a bit more warily.

"I'm not quite sure how this will sound, but we have a disturbing trouble in the museum, not in the expositions themselves…but down below, in the vaults where we keep the items not yet ready to be showcased. Or those, that already have been written down for safekeeping. There have been several accidents so far, five to be precise. The employees, who go into the vault alone, complain, that it's extremely cold there, some hear strange sounds. Few had ended up unconscious on the ground with various degrees of injury – from small cut marks to patches of burned skin…and the last two…well, one of them had horrible bruises on his face, around the eyes and the eyes themselves were completely red with blood. And the other one nearly lost his hand – it was almost cut of, to the point where we could see the bone…"

Mai was starting to feel queasy, her stomach turned uneasily and strange visions odd metal doors and covered cases came into her mind unbidden.

"Could this have been done by an attacker – a thief or some intruder?" It was just like their demon boss to check all possible options. Even when they are here for business, he still only takes the cases that are certainly paranormal and interesting enough.

"It's impossible – the vault doors have a specific locking mechanism – when you walk in, you have to punch in the code and do exactly the same coming out. Every entry is written down in automatic log. We checked it after the first accident – nobody came in or out except our employee, the one who was harmed that day."

"I see. How long has this been happening?" This was the most usual interview, so Mai couldn't understand why she was feeling so nervous and uncomfortable in her own skin.

"Over a month now. We are quickly becoming desperate, Shibuya-san, our own people refuse to go into the vaults, so now we go by two. Some employees have quit already." He really seemed worried for his staff, so Mai instantly felt sympathy towards the middle aged man. He was not here for curiosity or to find free advertisement for the museum, at least so it seemed.

"Is the activity located only in the vaults? Or has it spread outside?" this time it was Lin who asked the question.

"Not…so far. The outside is safe, but people are scared to even come to work. If this continues we'll be forced to close the expositions for sheer lack of personnel." The man sighed heavily. He looked dejected and weary, but a peculiar light of determination still shone in the tired gaze.

"What do you keep there?" Naru questioned, starting to wonder if he wants this case – it seemed like some simple cursed object. However people have been hurt severely…if he rejects this…Mai most likely will eat him alive. That reason alone made the young professor continue with the interview.

"Good gods, I could give you the lists if you like, but we have quite a lot of remnants from the wars, old Egypt collection, samurai weapons and so on, it's hard even for me to remember everything."

"I understand. Is there anything else you would like to add?"

"On the happenings…no, but I would like to ask you once again to help our employees." He said standing and bowing lowly "They are the ones to suffer from this."

"Very well, if we choose to come, we'll need three rooms to operate from – one for the equipment and two for sleeping."

"If you are sure you would like to stay in the same building…we could prepare the rooms on the third floor – some are empty." He mused, clearly walking the building corridors in his head. Mai felt as if she is walking with him. She sat there comfortably on the couch, but at the same time could almost see the wooden flooring, the doors and stairs, leading to the basement. The stairs made goose bumps rise on her skin, it felt as if someone is screaming down there, but she couldn't hear it. Nobody could.

"I assume you are staying at a hotel Sawamura-san?" Oliver's voice brought her back to reality and she nearly jumped off the couch.

"Yes." Expectant brown eyes travelled form one person to another.

"Then please leave your hotel number with my assistant, Taniyama-san, and we'll contact you about our decision before noon tomorrow."

"Of course." The elderly man bowed politely and obediently followed Mai to her desk to fill the forms. After all documents were settled Oliver walked back out of his office and called both his assistants.

"Lin, Mai, what do you think of this case? Do you want to take it?" He asked in unusual streak of generosity.

"I'm not sure… it might be a possessed object. If it is, the case has very little interest for us…" Lin pondered "However, people are getting severely injured so it's irresponsible to leave it be. Perhaps we should take a look with Takigawa-san, he has greater expertise in dealing with objects."

"Actually, John could come in a couple of days, he might be even better." Mai added still half lost in her thoughts. Even after the interview was long over she still could not fully return to herself, as if the place she saw stole a small piece of her consciousness and kept it there.

"You seemed strange during the interview. Did something happen? " Naru inquired looking at his still half present assistant.

"I…uh …my imagination might have run off with me. When Sawamura-san started to talk…I sort of…saw wooden corridors in my head…and there were metal doors and stairs. Stairs to the basement. It was dark at the bottom, but I think someone was screaming there…But! That might just be my over-active imagination, right?" she ended with a bright smile. Naru just looked at her steadily for a moment then sighed.

"I doubt it. You might start seeing visions when awake, if you do, tell me. Even if you think it's stupid." He made the last sentence a bit louder and the petite brunette just grumbled under her breath. "For now call Takigawa-san and Hara-san, we'll take the case."

With that he just strode back into his office and barricaded himself in it for the rest of the day.

Mai went home early that evening, stealing a little kiss goodbye before running off. Naru went home much later at night, he was busy looking at the museum exposition descriptions online and digging for information. The trip was short - they rented an apartment nearby with Lin after coming back to Japan permanently.

Their apartment was empty when he came back – it was getting normal to not find Lin home. He started to spend most nights at Kamishiro-san's home recently, only coming around to change and sometimes pick up his things. Emptiness didn't bother Oliver too much, after spending all day with people it was actually sort of relaxing – he could let his shields down a bit. After making salad for dinner he just promised himself to shower in the morning and went straight to sleep. A long day of packing and commute arrangements awaits tomorrow, after all.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

That night his phone rang. Drowsy the young scientist grappled on his nightstand. The clock said ten to four and the caller was Mai. Immediately all sleep was forgotten and worry took over:

"Hello? Mai?" he asked loudly, trying to keep alarm out of his voice.

"N-naru…I…" she was barely audible. On the line he could hear quiet sobs between words, she was crying – hard.

"Mai, it's alright, breathe. Breathe and tell me what's wrong." He tried to talk slowly and calmly in hopes to stop the sobs.

"I…I had...had a dream…Naru I have wounds…and they tortured him and…" She made no sense but he gathered enough to understand, that this is bad.

"Mai, listen to me. I'm coming over, unlock the door, I'll be there shortly. Don't do anything stupid. I'm going to hang up now, just wait for me." Now concealing fear was pointless. Even still on the phone he got up find some clothes. A shaky 'Okay ' was all he got before hanging up. Quickly jumping into some jeans, t-shirt and sweater Oliver was about to call the cab, but something on the key hook caught his eye – Lin's car keys. _'She must have picked him up today._ ' He thought and considered the options. Legally he can barely drive in Japan – no official license here, but it's four in the morning and it would be quicker. Throwing all caution to the wind he grabbed the keys and stormed out. The trip was short enough, in less than twenty minutes he was at Mai's door. The young man knocked, but no one came to open it, so he just strode in.

"Mai!" Oliver called out to the empty main space connected to a small kitchen. "Mai, where are you?"

No answer again.

In slight panic he walked into her bedroom to find it empty, so the only place left was her bathroom. Without any interest in propriety he threw the white door open and froze in between. In the tub, with her underclothes and not much else, sat Mai. She was scrubbing something with a wet cloth. Empty eyes stared ahead and the hand holding the cloth just kept moving automatically. Forcing himself out of the stupor Oliver walked over to his girl and grabbed first towel on hand.

"Mai, do you hear me? I told you not to do anything stupid!" Curled up in the tub she looked so very tiny. Unable to bear the sight he pried the cold wet material out of her hand and wrapped the towel around her shoulders, lifting Mai out of the tub and going straight for bed.

Before he could place the cuddled form on the mattress Mai started to trash in his arms.

"What the hell are you doing?! Mai! Calm down!"

"Not there…I don't want the blood…" She whimpered twisting about. Trying not to drop her Oliver took a second look at the bed sheets and for sure, there were dark stains on them…blood.

"Okay, okay….shhh, couch?" he asked already halfway to the said furniture. She stopped struggling and let him set her down. Swiftly turning the lights on Oliver took stock of the situation. She was shivering, half wet, half naked and scared to death. First thing to do was to put the kettle on. Then he went to his girlfriend, cuddled up in her towel.

"Mai" he tired gently sitting down beside her. The tone was still unfamiliar on his tongue, but he had to try. "I need you to let me look at your wounds. Come on, it's okay… let me see." Usually she would have exploded into million pieces calling him ten kinds of pervert, but now he opened the towel without complaint. There were no bruises on sight. Slowly and carefully he checked her arms and legs, waist, and even turned the tiny frame to look at her back. Nothing. This was unusual - not unheard of…but still quite rare.

"Does it hurt anywhere?" he questioned holding her cold cheeks his hands. She just shook her head, but some sense came back to her eyes. She looked up at him for the first time.

"I was so scared…" the tiny girl whispered, voice coarse "It hurt, and there was blood so I thought…"

"You're safe. There are no wounds; the blood may not be yours. " he tried to calm her down, but if he knew Mai, the best option would be…

"Naru?" she asked startled as he pulled her into his lap, holding the tiny figure to his chest tightly.

"You need to warm up. Just stay for a while, I won't do anything…"

"I…I like this, you're so warm…" she whispered curling up against his body. It felt so safe and reassuring to have him there, not to be left alone in the dark. In a few minutes the kettle started to whistle and Naru set her down to make tea. Mai already missed the contact and warmth slowly started to leave her body.

When a cup was put in her hands the black haired teenager reclaimed his spot on the couch and asked surprisingly carefully "That dream you had, what it was about?"

Taking one sip, then another Mai sat quietly for a moment, before gathering up the courage. "It was a white room of some kind, and there were these people, they had knifes, sort of like scalpels. I…I was bound to a table and they…" she put the cup down just to cover her face with slightly shaky palms.

"And they…" the young ghost hunter tried to get her back on track, though not very willingly. It was clearly painful for her…but he needed the information.

"Oh god, Naru, they cut him…me open and…and started to poke inside, and it hurt so much…I…I couldn't..."

"Alright, that's enough, I get the picture. Stop." The petite girl just nodded and curled up against the warm and comforting side of her boss. Sliding his arm around her shoulders Oliver pulled her closer, noticing the still too low body temperature. Just like that they sat in silence for long minutes. The young professor tracked his girlfriend's body temperature by keeping fingers on her exposed neck, tracing small circles on the soft skin there. Slowly, but steadily she was getting warmer.

"Do you think it has to do with the upcoming case, or it's unrelated?" he asked quietly into her hair. She just shook her head lightly whispering "I don't know." Mai really didn't know and didn't want to think about it for a while. Being held like that was too comfortable.

Oliver didn't go back home that night. He stayed with Mai till the morning, at first just holding her until she fell asleep again. Then he covered her up with blankets and went about taking the sheets off, never losing sight of her body for longer than a minute. Sleep never came for the young scientist, so early in the morning he woke the small brunette up and left for his apartment with a last comment in his usual bossy manner "Don't forget to pack for tomorrow. It's Aomori, so kindly dress and pack accordingly. You can come to work an hour later."

Mai just sat here dumbstruck. She fell asleep beside him, but upon waking up found all the sheets washed and the teacups were also clean. And he just left like that. It's been four months and she still couldn't understand him –he's gentle and caring one moment…and the next he's all business once again. With a long suffering sigh Mai gave up on even trying to understand. Oliver Davis was an idiot scientist…but he was her idiot scientist.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, second chapter is up! Have fun reading ^.^ I will try to update once a week, maybe more often, if I have the time.
> 
> Thank you for taking the time to read this story. Drop a word or two if you feel like it. Your interest and opinions are always precious to me.

The trip to Aomori was pretty long due to the snow in the roads – it made them drive very slowly. Mai thought there was a lot of snow in Tokyo, but this was just ridiculous. It was everywhere – on the branches of trees, on the road and all the signs and traffic lights. Even most cars had snow on their roofs. Now she was glad, that Naru warned her to dress warmly. Speaking of him, Mai was more than pissed with her moronic boss. At the moment he sat in the van along with Lin and Masako! When she insisted on sitting with them, coming up with the most ridiculous reasons he didn't even argue, just let her climb in. ' _That bastard! How dare he let her take my place! I-I men he knows she likes him and she always sort of tried to get him to date her…but now he's supposed to be mine! Uhhh!_

"Mai-chan, if you keep glaring at that window for much longer it's going to melt. That could be troublesome, it's cold outside, you know…" The teasing voice of Takigawa Hoshou brought her back to reality.

"Ah…sorry Monk, I sort of drifted off." She apologized scratching the back of her head nervously. It was comfortable in his car, much more so, than in the van, but she still couldn't find it in herself to appreciate it.

"Looked more like plotting someone's assassination to me…" he laughed good naturedly "Is it Naru-bou who's in for it?"

"Huh? Well yeah, I mean he earned it! Letting Masako sit with them like that!" she fumed without meaning to. Monk was always sort of a big brother figure, so it was easy to let off some steam on him.

"Well I guess so, but you know Naru, he probably didn't even understand the problem or didn't care enough to argue with her…so don't kill him at least until we finish the case, okay?"

"I know, I know…but it's so difficult with him, sometimes I can't even tell if he still…" she blushed brightly before continuing quietly "If he still likes me."

"Welcome to the complicated world of love, my little Mai-chan! Oh you grew up so fast…if you want to you can always go back to being my little girl." He smiled broadly never taking eyes off the road. It made Mai smile despite herself, grown up, huh? They spend the rest of the ride making lighthearted jokes and by the time Monk's old car pulled up to a large building the little assistant felt a lot better.

First thing to attract Mai's attention when she got out of the car was the size of the building – it was huge. Not as big as Vlad's weird mansion, but still impressive. Two lower floors seemed to be the museum, but the third looked almost empty. There was no eerie feeling about the place, which struck Mai as strange. It was just a pretty building…until a frantic woman ran out of it screaming. She headed straight for their client, clinging to him the moment he climbed out of his car. Both Lin and Naru instantly turned towards the loud and panicked voice.

"Sawamura-san, oh thank gods you are finally here! It's Katsuki-kun, he just got hospitalized! They took him away in an ambulance…the doctor said he was in a coma…" at that she just started to cry uncontrollably and almost crumpled in the old archeologist's arms.

"Kaoru-san, please calm down…" he tired desperately, visibly shocked by the unexpected greeting "gift". "Why did he go into the vault by himself?" The young woman with long brown hair just shook her head, trying to get her voice back.

"He didn't go there! It wasn't in the vault! We…we found him in the third exposition room, he was just laying there, comatose, but there were no wounds…so we don't know if it's the thing or, or…" Everybody gathered around the pair of museum employees. Mai almost wanted to hug the poor woman, she seemed so distressed. Masako was the only one to look at the building, not the dramatic scene. This case will be hard for her, she knew. Young medium hated museums to begin with, because there was always something there…it's impossible to have that many ancient artefacts and no spirits attached to them. Even now, looking at the building from afar, she could tell it was crowded in there.

In less than half an hour they all sat in a large, old fashioned room with teacups in front of them. Their client went in to speak to the director of the establishment about fifteen minutes ago and still didn't come out. When he finally strode through the door the expression on old archaeologist's face promised nothing good. "I'm sorry to keep you waiting. We had a few misunderstandings with the director…It seems he decided to make the business livelier for the season by starting a few new expositions, so yesterday some of the collections from the vault were transferred to exposition rooms. "

"Which collections were transferred and in what rooms are they now?" Oliver spoke up instantly. He knew all too well this might go very wrong.

"Those were the 'Egyptian death rites collection' and a local collection of some metal tools and equipment from a forest nearby. Some students found it, so we sort of ended up displaying them as part of cooperation with the school. The Egyptian tools and masks are in room number three and the local collection is in number four." Lin sighed and looked over to his ward. They should have taken more personnel…SPR came to research a localized phenomenon and found an open danger zone instead, so all plans needed to be rearranged. Naru just stared at his customary black notebook for a moment weighing his options.

"I suppose you would like to leave Shibuya-san?" the historian asked carefully "I will understand if this is a bit too dangerous and, of course, pay for your trip and time in full."

"Are you sure the director won't mind paying us? This was a long trip." The young boss looked up sceptically.

"Actually…I'm the one paying you." The middle aged man smiled sadly, scratching the back of his head. "Kohachi-san refused to accept the problem and spend museum funds on it, so he only let me search for help if I agreed to pay for it myself. Therefore, please don't worry there will be no problems with that. " Mai could not believe it, the owner of the museum is a prick, she decided. Looking around, the faces of Monk and even Lin said the same thing.

"We're not leaving, Sawamura-san." Oliver stated loudly, dragging everyone's attention to himself. "If you are the true client, then Kohachi-san will only be needed for some arrangements and not much else. For now I would be grateful if you would keep working as a liaison for us. Firstly – this museum needs to be closed until the problem is solved, otherwise some of your clients might get hurt. As much as I understand, most attacks happened during daytime, and when it's in the expositions, letting people walk around is too dangerous. "

"I have already thought exactly the same. It might take a while but I will talk him into closing the museum for at least a week. Hopefully that will be enough. Also, do you still want your team to stay here, Shibuya-san?" he seemed worried, looking over the small group of investigators. Some of them were so young…almost younger than his daughter, so fatherly instincts kicked in fairly quickly. The young boss of SPR considered it for a moment.

"Yes, we will stay here. It's best to monitor the situation in the same location. We've had dangerous cases before so we'll manage. Also I would like to get the blueprints of the building and the grounds. I will interview the employees tonight after hours, especially those, who had a paranormal experience at work. We will need permission to have cameras in the exposition rooms after the museum closes and also in the vault, just in case. The activity might still be there. Now, if you don't mind, could you show us the rooms and we will start with the equipment." At that the client just nodded, trying to remember all Naru's demands, and got up to find the woman from before – Kaoru-san – she was the one to prepare rooms for the team. She didn't show up along with Sawamura-san, but clearly told him where the rooms are.

Climbing one staircase after another Mai wondered if this place is really haunted, there were no bad feelings, even though the top floor was a bit creepy – long corridors, small windows, dark wooden ceiling almost hanging above your head like a big heavy cloud. At the end of the hall there were three doors, one double door in the middle and two smaller ones to the sides.

"Boys to the left, girls to the right?" Monk asked chuckling. He didn't seem bothered by the low ceiling. Mai wondered will Lin hit his head, one day or another. She just grinned brightly at the long haired man "Of course, because girls are always right!"

The rooms were big enough and surprisingly had tatami mat floors and a few futons in each room. The double door room – their base – was large and nearly empty, except for an old desk, few chairs and a mirror in the corner. Soon Sawamura-san left them the requested blueprints and disappeared to negotiate with the director. With not much choices of activity while the museum was still working, they started to drag the equipment in. On her third trip Mai had cursed all stairs to the end of the universe. _'Why, oh why does it have to be the third floor?'_ She nearly dropped a monitor, stacked on a large box of cables, before Naru grabbed the gadget and put it on his own pile.

"Mai, you should know by now how much you can carry. Please don't try to intentionally break my equipment." He pointed out and never stopped moving. That was enough to make all the anger from the long ride come back full force.

"Well then why don't you ask Masako to carry it for you, she might be more careful!" Mai fumed and walked straight past him in the hallway, small puffs of smoke seemed to leave her ears on every step. Even when all the monitors and boxes were already dragged to the cursed third floor, she still couldn't calm down, muttering to herself while putting up shelves. Masako didn't even dare come near her; she followed Lin-san obediently, giving him cables as he connected the monitors to the appropriate feeds. When the base was set up Oliver instantly started to bark out orders.

"Hara-san and Monk, I want you to go to the first floor and take a look at the exposition rooms 3 and 4. After that go along the hall and try to find other spots for probable activity. If it's something minor – exorcise it. Mai and Lin will be putting up cameras in the vault and later in said exposition rooms. If you find any other hot spots, let them know. I will regulate from the base. For now, we don't have enough people, but try not to go anywhere alone. We will deal with the interviews when Sawamura-san comes back and the setup is done with."

"Oliver…You should not stay alone ether, it's better if I regulate the angles. Just go to the vaults with Taniyama-san." Lin spoke up, sick and tired of his ward being irresponsible towards his own safety. It's been years and this particular matter is still not improving, so Lin started to wonder, whether it's pride or stupidity after all. Surprisingly it was Mai, who bristled "I'd rather go with you, Lin-san! Just in case I can't carry something properly for our boss." Lin just stared from one teenager to another, not fully understanding the problem. If this was the reason Oliver chose to put himself in danger…he won't let the boy hear the end of it.

Reading the expression on Lin's face Naru sighed and seemingly resigned for an unpleasant hour with a pissed off Mai. At least he tried to avoid confrontation…"Mai, take the microphones, we're heading down." He grumbled, grabbing two cameras and striding towards the door. He only stopped at the first floor to ask for the codes. Sawamura-san went down to the basement with them. He also promised to arrange the interviews for later and warned Naru that they were only closing the museum for four days, until Monday. It was a bit of a short period of time to finish the case, but Mai thought they could do it. When they climbed down to the basement sure enough, Mai found the large metal door she saw in her vision during the interview. He opened the door and let them in, but warned Naru that Kohachi-san refused to leave the vault open, so they can only get in during the day, when he is around. That meant changing the tapes twice a day, because direct feed will be impossible.

"How about security cameras, you do have them here?" the boss asked, trying to find a solution.

"Indeed we do, I can give you the codes, if you want. But the quality is not nearly as good as your equipment's..." the old archaeologist wondered out loud.

"Is there any sound recording by chance?"

"No, not at all, I'm sorry. It's only the video in security cameras."

Sighing Naru wrote down the codes for security feeds and turned to his pissed assistant. "Mai, set up sound recording. We'll be picking it up tomorrow morning. And don't forget to check what capacity the tape has; it should be the long ones, over six hours." Grumbling she went about the task. _'Why does he have to take me for an idiot? Is that why he decided to try his luck with Masako? Because he_ _ _only now_ figured out I can't do anything right? Or is it just that he already got bored of me…I'm no professor after all…_ ' Endless torrent of nasty thoughts flowed through the girls head as her hands automatically went about setting up the stands and microphones. She didn't even notice when Sawamura-san punched in the security codes before leaving and told Naru to close the door when they are done. When Mai was finally finished she heard someone cough behind her back.

"Is it on yet?" Oliver asked in his usual monotone. "No." she barked preparing to do just that, but before Mai could reach the Rec button a hand wrapped around her wrist quickly turning her around. "Good." Oliver said looking down at her, eyes strangely dark. "Now tell me what your problem is." All the little brunette could do was stare at him for a moment – Naru looked pissed. "I have told you off for not being careful with equipment numerous times, on some cases my wording was much stricter. Why are you so ridiculously angry about it now?"

' _What? Is he playing an idiot?'_ "It's not the barb about the monitor, you jerk! I-I cannot believe this! If you want to find a reason to brake this off…you…you can just tell me to back off so you could go to your precious Masako!" Mai was nearly screaming at the end of her little speech. Heat filled her face, but she refused to cry yet, not now.

"What does this have to do with Hara-san?" He seemed completely unfazed by her rising tone and not fully aware of where this conversation is headed.

"I don't know! Maybe you should tell me, since you choose her company over mine now!" Silence fell for nearly a minute and Mai's heavy breathing was the only sound in the room. She tried to pry her hand out of his grip, but it seemed to be impossible, he squeezed tightly - not enough to bruise, but sure enough to keep the small girl in place.

"Mai, is this about the car ride when she sat with me and Lin?" he asked after the pause, voice still completely calm.

"Oh don't tell me she just talked you into letting her take my place…before she could bully you into doing what she wants, because she knew your little secret…but now it was your choice, wasn't it?" She already knew the answer and couldn't stop the waterworks any longer. Slowly warm tears started to flow down her face. She needed to hear it…and yet she didn't want to hear it.

"Yes it was." He answered ignoring the tears flowing down his girlfriend's face.

Mai closed her eyes. This was it. It was a nice little dream that she could stand by him forever _. 'It's time to face the truth Mai, you will never be good enough…now all that's left is to hear it from his own lips. Just to know what I did wrong, so I would never ever repeat it again…'_ Gathering up her courage she whispered a quiet "Why?"

"Because of the car heater." He answered plainly and watched rather amused as the wheels in Mai's head screeched to a halt. It was so quiet one could hear a fly on the other side of the room. Tears stopped out of sheer shock. Now the pretty brown eyes just stared at him blankly.

"What?" she squeezed out barely audibly.

Using her shock to his advantage Oliver pulled the small body closer, wrapping his arms around her waist and slowly walked back out of the visibility range of the cameras. She didn't even fight him any more. "You see, the car heater in Lin's van has been broken for a while now, but we never bothered to fix it. Now, when we decided to come to Aomori in the winter, that malfunction became a problem. You always tend to get colds easily so I didn't want you to sit in that van - it was freezing the whole way here. Hara-san offered to sit with us, which was very convenient, so I agreed. That way I could be sure you will spend the three hours in warmth and relative comfort." Now his dumbfound girlfriend started to turn red, not out of anger, though. He new well enough, that she still had doubts about his feelings - thus the unprecedented outburst. It was all so foolishly complicated in her head. ' _Maybe I should show her...just how much I want her?_ ' he wondered. Looking at the bright red face Oliver smiled, it was beyond adorable. Soon that smile grew into a smirk and he just spun them around pushing her small body against the wall. "Next time you decide we are fighting and create an argument in your head, please tell me, I would like to know." He whispered into her ear quietly before licking the soft shell. Mai gasped and shivered in his arms.

"N-naru…"

"I don't like fighting, so let's not make a habit of it, hmm?" now he was positively purring, lips still millimetres away from her ear.

"I-I'm sorry…" the brown hared girl whispered quietly looking down, not sure how she ended up with the conclusion that she had. ' _Why didn't I ask him? Why did I have to be so childish and just blow up? Uhhh…_ '

"Sorry won't be enough." Naru spoke so close to her face it was enough to bring her back to reality. Looking up brown eyes grew wide. Before Mai could even react his lips were on hers, hot and demanding. A hand slid into her hair, forcing her head back a little and a small gasp escaped the girls' lips. It was enough of a chance for Naru to kiss her deeply and thoroughly, exploring every inch with his tongue until she could barely breathe. His palms felt unbearably hot, sliding up and down her back just to curve around her hip possessively. Unable and unwilling to fight it Mai just wrapped her arms around his neck and held on tightly. Her beloved boss was not usually this passionate… and she started to feel heat pooling in her belly.

Oliver reveled in the sensation of her body squirming in his arms…she was delicious, so sweet and soft. He pressed his leg between her thighs and felt the small girl arch instinctively, pushing up into his chest. Even with his lips on her neck and his hands gripping the soft hips tightly the young professor still had enough logic left to wonder…just how long will this be enough? Mai is a creature of feeling, he knew, so if he would push it in the right moment – she would give in and let him have it all. That was precisely the reason he had to be in full control of himself and refrain from doing anything before due time. With renewed resolve he pulled away, looking at his thoroughly debouched girlfriend fondly. Eyes closed and lips parted she practically laid in his arms panting.

"Mai?" he spoke up quietly, trying to get his own breathing back to normal "Are we done fighting?"

The young assistant just opened her hazy eyes and looked up at the man she still called her boyfriend. She bit her lip nervously, ashamed to remember the scene, that led to their passionate little endeavour. "Um…yes? Naru? I'm really sorry for being an idiot…" at that he just laughed quietly.

"Don't worry, I'm quite used to it. And before you try to kill me, I never said I don't like it. Just next time questions first and quarrels second, alright?"

"Yup. I promise to be a big girl and not go off on you like that. But you cloud be a little more careful with my heart…it's sort of easily breakable… " Mai pouted a little, still blushing. Another chuckle.

"I'll keep it in mind. And for now, shall we get back to work before the rest of the team thinks us dead? " Oliver asked pulling away from the comfortable embrace and taking a step towards the long forgotten microphone. Seeing Mai nod he pushed the record button and they both walked out of the vault without another word.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it for this chapter! Sorry for the slow start, but I really wanted this scene ^.^ In the next chapter the case finally begins in earnest! I promise to update soon!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are, another chapter! I hope you will find it interesting ^.^ If there are any spelling errors, please write me, I'll make sure to correct them!

When the young boss of SPR and his favourite assistant dragged themselves back to the base after setting up at least six cameras, measuring the temperatures in both first _and_ second floors, as well as taking the stairs more than three times, the romantic mood was long gone. The temperature data was on the lower side in the whole building, more so in exposition rooms two, three and four, but it was no definitive proof of activity.

In the base they were greeted by silence. Monk was splayed on the floor and Lin meddled with the monitors, as usual. Only Masako was strangely quiet. She didn't even lift her head up as Naru walked into the room, and that was telling enough. All prior anger forgotten Mai walked up to the small medium instantly. "Masako? Are you okay? Did something bad happen?" she asked worried.

"No." was all the answer Mai got in the beginning. Not really sure which question the medium answered she waited quietly. "This place has too many spirits to tell which one is causing this. In the first floor alone I met eight spirits. Some of them harbour negative emotions, others are just attached to their possessions, but it's tiring…" The tiny girl sighed. Mai was used to Masako denying the existence of spirits, not telling she sees too many of them…

"How about the exposition rooms three and four?" Oliver asked the customary black notebook already in hand.

"In the third room there is a very old spirit of a man over thirty. He came with some of the Egyptian tools, as much as I could understand, they belonged to him in life and he still feels possessive of them in death. He seemed angry and somewhat irritated that I dare to bother him. Also there is a small girl and a young man in that room, but she is too afraid to talk to me and he won't come out of his corner. One of the masks on display appeared to be his. He died too young and seemingly wants to keep living. I highly doubt he or the girl caused the injuries." Every word took enormous amount of energy for the girl. Mai had never seen her so…automatic, like she just blindly forced the words out – bland and toneless. "The fourth room is strange. The spirits are there, but not there…They are present, but somehow, when I try to reach out I can't find the link…All I could understand is that there is a wounded young woman there, she hides in the far corner and refuses to speak to me. When I came closer, I could see strange marks on her forearms…Also I saw a young man, about eighteen to twenty. His presence is very strong, but he seems to have no positive or negative emotions towards this building or the employees here. And finally…there is the second floor."

"How about the other rooms on the first floor?" Naru pressed a little further. Professional medium should be able to handle this, so he felt only a small pang of remorse "You said eight spirits, we only heard about five."

"Oi, Naru-chan, do you really have to push it?" Monk questioned not too happily. He had never seen the proud medium so weary.

"The other three are an old woman, a man and a young woman. The old woman in the first exposition room died in a fire and they have her mirror under the glass. Another man in that room is a clerk, he grumbled about people displacing his writing tools all the time. And the last one was a lovely young woman, probably geisha in the room number two. She is very angry and very sad, because the man she loved killed her, it seems. That is all." Mai and Monk looked at each other and then back at the young medium not knowing how to approach the situation. ' _Maybe we both should go get some rest during the interviews?'_ Mai thought hesitantly.

"What about the second floor?" Oliver pressed. Though he seemed completely detached and uncaring, the state of the medium disturbed him. It was common for her to dramatize and exaggerate, but this quiet weariness made him uneasy.

"Naru! We are going to the girl's room to rest. Don't even try to stop us!" Mai raised her voice instantly, grabbing the medium by the elbow and nearly dragging her to the door. Her mother hen instincts were kicking in and Oliver knew better than to oppose her. Quietly, he let the two girls leave, but Masako turned around by the door. "The second floor is full of remnants of the recent wars. They are weak and needy, but harmless." With that, Mai dragged her out.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Masako laid on a lumpy futon in the girls' room and stared at the ceiling in that peculiar state, when the body is not yet asleep, but the mind is already drifting. Mai was scribbling something on her notebooks, probably doing homework silently. She half heartedly thanked Mai for her stubbornness – if not for her, Masako might have fainted during the "interview" or rather interrogation. The medium had long forgotten times, when spirits would drain her so…it was very long ago after all, when she was just a little girl. Back then, without fame and recognition she was just a strange child, who would speak to invisible people in the school yard. It would only cause two reactions, she remembered, people would ether laugh and make fun of her, or take a few steps back, as if she had a contagious disease. Masako knew she was lucky, because her parents took her to a spiritualist, not a psychiatrist, when the spirits started to possess her, otherwise she might be in a white padded cell now. With those not exactly pleasant thoughts she drifted off, reflexively letting go of her beads.

The other girl in the room shifted and crossed her legs on the futon. School work was boring, but it had to be done – it was Mai's last year at school and she was absolutely sure she wants to go to a decent university, so hard work was necessary. The girl smiled to herself thinking ' _Oliver is rubbing off on me…_ ' and scribbled to her notes some more. Masako fell asleep maybe fifteen minutes after she laid down, and all anger Mai might have had for her slowly dissipated – she understood, that Masako was now in her usual place – the weakest link. Remembering the conversation with her boss/boyfriend before the case the little assistant wondered, whether this could be Masako's powers, just like her own, growing stronger due to the strange rise in psychic energy. It was getting dark already, so she decided not to go back to the base and sleep after her homework is done. Two hours of reading and taking notes was more than enough for Mai, so she just jumped into pyjamas and tuned the light off.

Listening in the dark she wondered why this place didn't feel haunted...except maybe for the fourth room. Earlier when she walked into it setting up cameras it felt heavy in there. For some reason she could smell cedar wood and pine in that room...and almost felt like she was in a separate ecosystem. _'That room is not part of the house, or so it feels...Like a pocked of different space. Conservated time.'_ She pondered lazily, half asleep. She decided to keep her observations until tomorrow, when they will gather more information. It might just be her imagination...though Mai started to realize that her feelings are rarely wrong now. She could feel and sometimes almost see different planes, or maybe time periods, of existence at the same time - like seeing two different pictures with your right and left eye. Sighing she closed her eyes and quietly asked Gene to watch over her dreams. She really didn't feel like bleeding again tonight.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"Cold."

Mai snapped her eyes open, listening in the dark. There were no spirit lights, like she was used to seeing. No change in perspective. ' _Is this a dream? Who's talking? Where's Gene?_ ' She started to panic slightly, not wanting a repeat of her last dream adventure and the bloody mess, that followed…

"It's so cold in here." The quiet feminine voice spoke again, barely above whisper "I don't want to stay here anymore…please…"

Slowly the small brunette started to realize she is not dreaming – it's their room and her body is awake…so the only person, who could talk is…Masako. But the voice was not the medium's. ' _Possession. it can't be anything else_.' Mai thought instantly. Cold sweat broke out over the girl's skin. ' _Should I talk to it?_ ' Before she had enough time to think a wail filled the room, then another one.

"No! Don't touch me! I don't want to go…No more!" Swiftly Mai got up to turn on the lights. Masako was cuddled up in the corner, her kimono dishevelled and eyes open, but not seeing anything in this world. The small girl started to writhe and moan painfully, it was enough to send Mai on her feet. Ignoring her bare feet and the cold wooden floor she flew though the door and barged into the base, making both Lin and Naru jump.

"Naru! Lin-san!...Masako, she…" even before the little assistant could finish her statement both men were up and off. When they came into the room, Masako was in a sort of fit - she was scratching her own forearms, nails digging angry red gashes on her pale skin. Over and over the small girl dragged her nails up her own arms, to the point of drawing blood, but her face showed no pain at all, as if she couldn't feel it.

After a couple of moments of shocked immobility Lin instantly went to kneel beside her; he grabbed the girl's hands to stop her from harming herself, and shook the tiny frame forcibly. "This is not your body, leave it now!" He yelled, voice surprisingly loud, demanding and apparently very effective, as it only took a few seconds for Masako's body to go limp in the Chinese man's arms. Slowly the gray eyes opened – unfocused, but fully conscious.

"My beads…" she spoke weakly. Before Mai could even understand what it is that she wants Oliver took the prayer beads from her futon and pressed them into the girl's hand. After less than a minute of quiet mumbling form Masako, she finally lifted her head up fully, gently pushing Lin away. She put her sleeping kimono in some resemblance of order and faced the three pairs of expectant eyes.

"I'm…terribly sorry for the unsightly episode. It's quite alright now. I will make sure to keep my barriers up more firmly, so this would not happen again."

"Hara-san, do you know who possessed you?" Naru asked moving a step back to give the medium her personal space. Lin followed suit in a second.

"I believe it was the girl from the fourth room, the one, who sat in the corner. She…might have been like me." Masako spoke hesitantly. She was unused to spirits possessing her without permission and still felt slightly uncomfortable, but sat straight none the less.

"What do you mean like you?" Mai questioned, not understanding what her co-worker meant."You mean she looked like you?"

"No, Mai, I think she might have been a medium or psychic of some sort. Before I fell asleep I was remembering my childhood and how I became who I am now. I thought that if things turned out a bit differently…I might be spending my days in a padded cell. That was what attracted her, I think. She probably lived the worse version of my life."

Everyone fell silent. Oliver was well aware that good part of powerful psychics ends up in psychiatric wards at some point in their lives, and it's certainly not a pleasant experience. If this girl was abused and perhaps died in such ward, her grudge might be enough to cause harm.

"Do you think she caused the injuries?" Naru asked, voicing his theories.

"It might be. At first glance she didn't seem very powerful, but if her spirit managed to possess me without permission, my first impression might have been wrong. " Masako seemed a little bit better than she was before falling asleep, but not much, so Mai still wondered if they should try to go back to sleep. It was still three in the morning, after all. But she didn't get to ask - Masako stood up and told the men to leave the room, then wordlessly changed into her daily kimono completely ignoring Mai.

"We're not going back to sleep?" the little assistant asked carefully.

"You can if you want to, but I will revisit the exposition room, maybe she will speak to me now." That was all Masako said before heading out with her head held high. Sometimes she was a bit too proud for her own good, just like Naru. All Mai could do is change into some jeans, a turtle neck and warms socks before running out after the medium.

When they entered the fourth exposition room with Monk, who was still jawning, Masako suddenly stood stock still. To the great shock of both her companions, the little spiritualist said that the girl in the fourth exposition room was not there anymore. Neither was the young man Masako saw on her first round. Now the only spirit in the room was a woman in her twenties with a small child in her arms. No matter how many times the medium tired to talk to her, the spirit just kept singing to her baby.

After the failed attempt Monk reported the change of situation to Naru, who sat quietly for long minutes, trying to form a plan of action. Too many possibilities spun wildly in the young professors head - there may be many spirits in one location, but the cause of the haunting is usually one, or one group, in this case. He just needs to strip this case to it's bones and find which one caused of all the accsidents. There has to be a reason behind it.

"Mai, tea." Was the first request, as per usual. Thank gods they bought an electric kettle few cases ago, so the brunette just stood up to make the damned tea, cursing her idiot scientist under her breath. Everyone was back in the base room. Masako refused to go to sleep, Monk was too riled up for the time being, but Mai could already see him snoring in half an hour. Unfortunately their demon boss decided to lay down the plan for tomorrow, and that was enough to drag Hoshou away from sleep for a while.

"Also, tomorrow morning, just after the museum opens, I want Takigawa to try and exorcise the tools and other things in exposition rooms three and four."

"Hey now, Naru-bou, that's a lot of work, you know? Do you remember how many tools and things there are in those rooms? I'm not even talking about the different spirits..." Takigawa complained half heartedly. He was still sleepy and tomorrow seemed gloomier by the minute.

"When John arrives, he will join you. We have to try both collections, because there is not enough data to decide which one is causing the incidents. If we get a strong negative reaction from one of the rooms, but not the other, we'll concentrate on that collection. For the moment we will have to test the waters. Mai, in the morning call Yasuhara and ask him to find information on this museum and bring it here as soon as he can. Considering the amount of artefacts in this building, this might be more than one haunting. Before morning, nobody leaves the base alone. Lin, go and have some sleep, I'll stay by the monitors."

"Alright." the tall man just stood and left wordlessly. He knew it's best to take the rest when he can get it.

Masako stayed quietly in one of the corners, seemingly praying. The spirit broke down some of her shields, so now she had to rebuild them to full strength. Sighing, Mai placed the cups on the work table - only available surface - and pushed one in front of Naru's nose. He just hummed in response.

With a pot of tea and a bit of a tense silence they waited for the morning to come.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See you next chapter!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello there! Here we have another chapter, a bit longer this time ^.^
> 
> Now, back to the case!

Before nine the next morning Mai asked Sawamura-san where to get some food and was recommended a nice little inn with a delivery service. After making the call for food she also took the time to call Yasu and unfortunately woke him up – apparently he was supposed to have lectures only in the afternoon.

_"_ _Good morning, Yasuhara-san!"_ she greeted happily only to sweat drop after hearing a groan on the other end of the line.

_"_ _Good morning to you too, Mai-chan. I don't think you would want to chat so early in the morning, so what bag of horror have you dragged to me this time?"_ he sounded both drowsy and amused, but not really angry, so Mai let out a breath of relief.

_"_ _Ah….um, sorry about the early call, but we are sort of in a hurry since last night. Naru wants you to research the background of Kohachi History museum in Aomori…if it's not too much trouble…"_ she added carefully, though it was a slim chance that he might refuse.

_"_ _Sure, sure, I'm always glad to help, just send me the information on the museum and how deep you want me to dig. Sooo…you're in Aomori, then? How's the weather? Have you drowned in snow yet?"_ change of subject seemed to make the university student merrier.

_"_ _Not yet, but we had a few close calls. Seriously, it's everywhere, in, like, piles!"_ Loud and happy laughter filled Mai's ears.

_"_ _Well, then you could build a snowman and replace the big boss with it, the attitude would be so similar nobody would notice."_ Mai snorted at the mental image of a large, fat snowman holding the black notebook.

_"_ _You know what, I actually might!"_ she said laughing out loud.

" _And now, on a more serious note, do you need me in location, or I can just send you the research?"_

" _Actually it would be better if you came over...when you send your research usually the only person who can understand it without explanations is Naru..."_ She told him a bit embarrassed. At that Yasu just laughed.

_"Sure, I think I can run off for a day or two. Also...asking the locals is sometimes much more effective than actual scientific research. Send me the address, okay? And see you soon, Mai-chan!"_ After saying her goodbyes and sending the address to Yasuhara's phone she got up and went to grab her winter jacket – soon they will go to the front door to greet John.

He arrived in a yellow taxi car covered in snow, of course, just like everything else. Stepping out the young Australian smiled and Mai suddenly realized how long it's been since they worked together. He seemingly grew an inch or so and cut his hair a bit shorter.

"Hello, everyone! It's so nice to see you after all this time!" he spoke up cheerily the moment he stepped into hearing range. Mai and Monk started to wave enthusiastically until he came up closer.

"John! How have you been?" Mai asked instantly "How was Rome? Did the trip go okay?"

"Oh, yes, it was fine. Routine, actually. All exorcists are called back to Rome for updates and renewal of vows once a few years. It was unusual this year, because there have been more possessions over the last months, but that's another matter. How have you been doing?" he asked smiling. Everyone smiled back just as brightly and started to tell their little stories with Mai leading the front. The only one not smiling was Oliver. He was both intrigued and worried by the little news John brought back.

Soon the blonde was seated in the warm base and informed that Mai and Noll finally started their long due relationship, which annoyed Oliver to no end. Even Lin's quiet love affair was dragged to light along with Monk's last tour with his band. Eventually the big boss had enough of it:

"If you intend to play café and sit around all day, you might as well leave. It will be easier to work without all this noise. Brown-san I asked you to come along because we possibly have a case of possessed object or more likely objects, and I hoped you could help us with it. We can discuss the lost time _after_ the case is over, if you don't mind. "

"Oh, sorry, I got a little carried away. I'm ready to work any time, just tell me what needs to be done." John was smiling sheepishly, more than a little embarrassed. Mai was not so docile, glaring daggers at her idiot scientist.

"Right. If we are back on topic, this private museum currently has two expositions that are causing trouble. During the interviews yesterday we found out, that the people, who curate these two collections, were constantly getting hurt. They would go into the vault where these collections were kept to log and prepare them for showcasing, but constantly felt watched, poked, heard strange noises and eventually got injured. One woman, the cleaner, told us, that she finds red stains under one of the items all the time. That item is an old Egyptian mask. I would like you to try and exorcise it. After that, both you and Monk will have to deal with a whole array of tools for mummifying."

"How about the fourth room and all the strange metal tools, belts and what not, Naru-chan? Those are equally suspicious…" Takigawa wondered out loud. He really felt the chills in the fourth room more than the third.

"That room we will deal with in the afternoon, for now let's see what effect both your exorcisms will have." With that the action plan was decided.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

As soon as everyone ate breakfast and changed into ritual clothes the exorcisms began. John went first and tired his luck with the mask. The moment he stood in front of the item and spilled a little of holy water on it, the temperature around the stone artefact dropped.

"In the beginning was the word…And the word was with God…And the word was God…" as he spoke longer frost started to appear on the glass, that prior covered the mask, and on nearby showcases as well. Slowly and steadily blood started to seep out of the mask, trickling down out of the eyes, the nose, even lips. When John's prayer was finally over, he placed a tiny crucifix on the mask and it shook violently before becoming eerily still. Masako just nodded when John looked back at his teammates for feedback.

"The young man left." She said tonelessly. Spirits were still draining the young medium, even through her barriers. "He was attached to that mask as an anchor in this world. When the connection was broken he left."

Sighing with relief Monk stepped forth to deal with the mummification tools. ' _Maybe this won't be as bad as I thought._ ' He wondered remembering John's easy success. Unfortunately lady luck had other plans.

It was quiet when the first chants started, but the longer Monk chanted, the quieter it got, as if the whole room was submerged into water, soon the man's voice was barely audible. Mai started to get a very bad feeling about this whole thing, as if they shouldn't try to poke this spirit. It didn't just get cold around the canopic jars and metal tools – the whole room turned to minus three degrees Celsius – below freezing. Masako just grabbed Mai's arm and pressed into her side tightly. That was enough of a sign something was wrong. "Masako?" Mai asked in a shaky voice. She was only answered by chanting, but not in Japanese and the sound seemed to come from all sides at once. Mai squeezed her eyes shut tightly like it could make the sound go away along with the sight. Except her sight didn't go away ether. Instead of the exposition room she could now see light brown, sand coloured walls and a large table, that looked almost like a bed - with a depth to it. Beside the strange table stood a figure of...what seemed to be a man, but his head was that of a...dog, or a jackal maybe. Something canine. Breathing becoming erratic Mai wondered if they are taking on a god again...

The unfamiliar voice grew louder and louder, drowning out Monks chant. John didn't have it in him to stand aside any more – he spilled some holy water on the tools and bowls…only to have it sizzle off and evaporate like the urns and hooks were burning hot. Still, John kept repeating his prayers until an invisible force pushed him backwards into one of the walls. Despite the relative failure it gave Takigawa a chance to change strategies, he changed the chant and soon enough one of the urns cracked and a bluish black shadow rose out of it, disappearing through the wall. When the temperature rose back to normal SPR team started to breathe again.

"What the hell was that chanting all about?" Monk asked breathing heavily. He seemed drained, but still stood firmly on his feet.

"It was the priest." Masako spoke up after a second "He was the master of those tools and probably a very powerful man in life. I can only guess he practiced some type of magic…and he's not gone."

"Are you sure it was human, Masako?" Mai asked carefully, remembering her vision of the dog headed man. Everyone looked at her questioningly. Especially Oliver's eyes told her she better start talking, so she did. "I sort of...saw him in this sand colored brick room with a table...or a bed it's hard to say. But he was not fully human! His body was human enough...but the head...it...it looked like an animal head, dog's maybe...I don't know...he just looked not human, though it didn't feel like the energy of Okobu..." Everybody stared at her dumbstruck. All, but Naru. He looked both interested in her vision and slightly shocked at the development of her ability.

"It was a man, no matter how he looked like in your vision. Spirits can change form." Masako spoke up in the uneasy silence "His spirit just left the tools and ran away for the moment. This man might come back with a vengeance – we made him very angry." That was enough to drag out the unpleasant silence. Even Naru was in thought for a long while before speaking up:

"Hara-san, do you think he attacked the museum workers?"

"He has enough power, but I am not sure. If it was him...he will probably do worse than that now. Before he was simply annoyed with the torrent of people, but now…we challenged his authority. He will most likely attack us now."

Oliver just smiled at her obvious fear. "Good, than we won't have to go looking for him, he will come to find us. Before then, we need to find Sawamura-san and ask him for the name and date of death of this man. Then, Lin, do you think you can take him?" The young scientist was smiling slightly, clearly revelling in the challenge.

"Given the correct information, I can. However, it will take time to prepare, and it will not be a cleansing. If I perform the ritual I will exorcise him." Lin spoke in his usual calm manner. Mai already missed the more expressive Lin they had few cases ago. She honestly enjoyed watching more than one emotion on the Chinese man's face. But for that, apparently he needs to be in close proximity with Yukiko-sensei. Masako, however, had much darker thoughts. She shuddered at the Onmyoji's words and really didn't feel like watching him killing the spirit.

"Good. Then, Mai, John go and find Sawamura-san." With that he left the room with Lin on his heels. Both Monk and John sighed.

"Well this was lovely…who wants a repeat?" the rocker chuckled wearily and dragged himself after the mad scientists taking the tiny medium with him. Mai and John left to look for the client.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Surprisingly, after about an hour of digging among the photographs of hieroglyphics and their translations, Sawamura-san managed to find the name and date of death of the high priest, who owned the tools. Mai stayed with him the whole time, watching the elderly man work. During that time she found out, that high priests actually wore masks of god Anubis - god of enbalming (among other things), which...surprise, surprise...looked like a man with the head of a jackal. The historian was more than happy to tell her about the masks and the enbalming process itself. He seemed to get younger when fully concentrated – sharp brown eyes travelled from one scrap of paper to another, hands fiddled with magnifying glass and various files quickly and easily. Passion for his work was clearly visible in every move. Mai could not help but think he must have been a handsome man in his youth. When they finally reached the base with necessary data it was way past midday. Sun started to turn slightly red and the shadows stretched out in the halls and stairways. When they stood in front of the double door however, there was one problem - she couldn't open it.

"Huh? Um, Sawamura-san, did you give Na…Shibuya-san the keys for this door?" she asked completely confused, before a shiver ran over her body – something was wrong. Distantly she could hear the chanting starting up again, dragging her into another dimension it came from. Trying to keep concious she grabbed the handle one more time, but it had turned scorching hot and burned the brunettes' skin badly. With a loud scream Mai stumbled backwards only to be caught in the archaeologists firm grip.

"Miss? What's the matter, what happened to your hand?" he asked grabbing Mai's wrist and freezing upon the sight of bright red burn marks. Mai Just whimpered in his arms. Before ether of them could come out of shock, all the windows in the hallway started to shake and crack slowly. Knowing what comes next Mai closed her eyes and covered her face to avoid the shards. In her blindness she screamed, when a hand dragged her towards the door and a deafening whistle echoed in the air. Upon opening her eyes the little assistant found herself facing a familiar black dress shirt and a jacket. Behind her, Lin slammed the door shut.

Naru held her tightly against his chest and for a moment relief was strong enough to make her forget the pain in her palm. Sawamura-san was panting behind her, barely holding up against one of the walls.

"What on earth was that?" he asked, tone drenched with panic.

"That was the priest from the third exposition, I assume. The one, whose name and date of death we requested you to find." Naru answered levelly, not awfully happy about the accident, but satisfied knowing all ended reasonably well.

"Do you realize he just burned your assistant's hand?! That he tried to bombard us with broken glass shards?!" the historian's temper and tone were rising exponentially.

"Yes, I'm aware. Unfortunately such risks are a part of this line of work. As much as I would like to avoid any injuries in my team, it doesn't always work out that way." The young boss seemed completely calm and even detached, which made the older man the more furious.

However Mai chose that second to moan in pain and the confrontation was effectively over when Naru chose to sit her down and take care of her hand instead of continuing the verbal battle. Sawamura fell silent too. He wanted the curious little girl to be treated as quickly as possible. Before anyone could even request Masako scurried over to the chair with their first aid kit.

"Mai, show me your hand." Masako spoke worried as she folded herself onto the floor beside the chair. Mai obediently outstretched her hand, letting the medium put antiseptic, some kind of salve and eventually bandages over it all. Monk came around to pat her head, John was making her a cup of tea and everyone seemed so worried...It made her feel like a little girl again – loved and surrounded by family. When the whole process was over and they sat on various surfaces with teacups in hand Mai spoke up:

"Hey, we don't have Ayako's charms to protect the base...can he get in here?" she asked a bit worried. The feeling of the man's voice dragging her consciousness toward him was still vivid in her mind.

"He can't." Lin answered her surprisingly gently, assuring the girl "My shiki have formed a barrier around the base. He cannot get in or even come near enough to do damage."

"Still, I want you to perform the ritual as soon as possible, Lin." Oliver spoke up eyeing his tiny girl and her bandaged hand. "We have the information you'll need and I believe you have most of your tools in the base."

"I do."

"Then do it. No one leaves the base until the ritual is successful." Every member of the team and even the client nodded obediently. Lin stood up from the monitors, leaving the duty of observation to John and went about to dig for his tools.

Around an hour later, when the sun was barely visible over the horizon and the world was already bathed in purple and gray rays of evening, the team stood in front of a strange sight. Lin had drawn a circle on the floorboards and sat in front of it with several objects neatly placed beside him. To his right stood a small copper bell and a bowl of water. To his left – incense sticks and a bowl with sand to burn them in along with a small dagger. In the very middle a single candle was lit in front of an empty stone bowl and a piece of clean paper. Ink was just beside it.

In the deadly silence he rang the bell, let the silence swallow the sound then rang it again. The tall man washed his small dagger in the bowl of water, running the liquid over the blade almost meditatively. He lit the incense and bowed three times holding it up before placing it in the sand. All this time he never stopped speaking very quietly in Chinese. After a few minutes of mumbling he took the small piece of paper and wrote the priests name and date of death on it. That's when the temperature started to drop in the room. Eyes going wide Masako stared at the paper as if it's about to bite them and backed off a little to stand near John and the monitors. Mai, on the other hand had drifted close to Oliver, but felt calm enough – Lin's slow and deliberate movements have put her into a sort of meditative state. Soon the windows started to freeze over and the door rattled violently accompanied by banging on the walls, but it didn't stop Lin from picking up his dagger and swiftly nailing the paper to the inside of the circle with it. All sound cased in the electrified silence and slowly, in the middle of the circle a small purple light started to flicker. It grew larger by the second, slowly taking shape of a man with the head of a jackal. He stood in the circle tall and imposing, clearly trying to scare them out of doing anything. But he unfortunately had little experience with Lin. The man was level headed and nearly impossible to beat off track. Out of the blue that balance was almost broken by John's voice.

"Guys! The cameras in the _fourth_ room are picking up something!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it for now! I hope you had fun, I sure did! And see you next chapter!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello there, again! Thank you for taking the time to read this story!
> 
> It's such great fun to write it, so I hope my readers have equally good time reading it. A few interesting revelations await you on this chapter. Enjoy! ^.^

_John's voice disturbed the sillence:_ _"Guys! The cameras in the fourth room are picking up something!"_

"It's full of...fog, I guess..." the young priest seemed shocked but reluctant to break his colleague's concentration. Everyone turned towards the monitors, except for Lin. His steady gaze remained on the priest trapped in his circle.

In the fourth exposition room three cameras showed...almost nothing. They were not broken, just white, like all the room was full of the thickest fog imaginable. But when Mai and John bent in closer, they could see forms of people in the white mist. The humanoid forms seemed to just walk around with no clear objective – like they're lost in the fog and can't find a way out. One of the figures caught Masako's attention – it was the same girl, who possessed her. Ignoring the possible danger she turned on her heel and swiftly walked out of the room surprising the entire SPR team – it was unusual for her to be so impulsive – that was Mai's forte. Monk just threw a glance towards the boss asking for permission before running off after her.

Despite the whole ordeal Lin sat in front of his circle unmoving.

One wrong move now and the priest would be free to attack them, so the only thought in the tall man's head was to finish the ritual. He had no other options. Starting to speak again he could see the priest getting angry – the spirit started to release almost electric shocks into the atmosphere making the room smell like fields after a lightning strike. Ozone. Lin rang the bell again. This time three times and started the incantation spilling it out of his mouth as quickly as he possibly could without losing the effect. Without stopping the chant he reached his hand out and took the dagger out of the floorboards with the paper still stuck on it. Dragging the small parchment off the steel blade he bathed it in the smoke of the incense for a second. After that was done, he simply placed the paper over the candle flame and let it catch fire. As the paper did, so did the spirit in the circle. Laying the paper into the empty stone bowl the Chinese man watched flames lick the spirit of the priest. He wasn't the only spectator – Oliver and Mai also turned to see the end of the ritual. As unpleasant to watch as it was, Mai stood straight beside her boyfriend, only turning her eyes away at the very end. Naru just pulled her closer into his side, both proud of her restraint and unwilling to let her watch the spirit disappear. When the last wisp of the purple light mixed with the flames and disappeared they could breathe freer, but John chose that moment to draw their attention back to the monitors.

"Guys, I think you need to see this." He spoke up hesitantly "Hara-san is speaking to the spirits in the fourth room. Has been for a while, she just started her prayers, it seems."

Mai and Naru were by the monitors in a second, accompanied by Lin, who took the time to extinguish his candle and incense. Even their frightened client scurried over to get a better view. When they turned on the sound, a chanting could be heard – both from Monk and Masako – they were trying to release the spirits...just it wasn't working. The ghosts walked past them like they weren't even there, completely ignoring the chants. That sight was a first to Oliver. He had seen spirits ether fight the chants or submit to them, but never just ignore the words completely. He started to wonder would it be too dangerous to get Mai down there, maybe her empathic personality could get the spirits to react...? Turning to her he opened his mouth to speak, but only a surprised sound came out of it as Mai unexpectedly slid down his side unconscious.

x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

_Mai opened her eyes engulfed in white. She lay on a flat surface, but very little else could be seen. Suddenly a hand, followed by and arm clad in black, wrapped around her wrist. On pure instinct she hauled herself up and wrapped her arms around the familiar lean body dressed in black. "Naru, thank gods..." she said before looking up. The beloved face was smiling...but it wasn't Naru's smile, she could tell the difference instantly. As if dosed with cold water she pushed away and stood at an arm's length. "Sorry, Gene..." the small girl mumbled, thoroughly embarrassed. It's been a while since she confused the twins last time._

_Her spirit guide just smiled gently and shook his head. "It's alright Mai. I'm actually happy you two get along so well. But now we should go, there is something I want to show you. It has to do with the case you are on right now." Mai could just nod numbly and let him lead her through the fog by the hand. It was so thick she still couldn't see a thing. "Where are we? Why is it so hard to see anything? If I tried to focus and make it look like a sketch, like I do with buildings, would it work?" she asked not really liking the blind tour._

_"Not in here, the energy is too strong here, and you are not the only one manifesting reality in this place. Look." He said pointing at the fog and sure enough if she looked closer Mai could see people wandering about soundlessly. Men, women, teenagers and adults alike floated in the mist aimlessly, lost in their own worlds, passing each other and not even noticing they are not alone. It felt unbearably sad and frightening for Mai to watch them pass each other by. She almost fell back when a young man passed her by just inches away. He had bloodshot eyes – the whites were almost completely red with blood._

_"Gene...what is this place?" she spoke up in a trembling voice. It looked almost like a christian purgatory to her._

_"Technically it's a forest, but it hasn't been a forest for a while. Now it's a cemetery. All these people have been buried in the forest, or simply left there to rot. They cannot understand where they are and why they are here." He looked at the middle aged woman passing them by with sadness in the deep blue eyes. "This fog is their reality. We shouldn't stay here for too long or we may get lost in the fog as well."_

_"Why are they here? How did they die?" Mai could see the trunks of large trees around them, now that he mentioned it. The air smelled of pine and cedar wood, there were bushes here and there, but the path they were on seemed surprisingly even. One more thing she noticed was various injuries on most of the wandering souls, but not all._

_"They were tortured, or that is how they see it, and I cannot disagree. Now they are angry, that their pain and suffering has been put on display for somebody else's entertainment. That is why they punish the spectators, who take their suffering lightly, by making them experience it..."_

_"Gene...where is this place? It's not the museum, is it?" The brunette knew she had to get as much information as possible and not stay here for too long. Gene's warning still echoed in her ears and getting lost in that fog was too terrifying._

_"It's nearby but not the place the museum stands upon now. This is the place the tools came from. Find it and you can at least try to release them, they will not hear you in the museum, because they are simply not there. Now, go, Mai. It's time."_

_Looking up at her spirit guide Mai just nodded and squeezed his hand for the last time before turning away to walk out of the dream. A small figure crossed her path just before she could walk out – a child. He seemed so small, maybe seven or eight and already had horrible burn marks on his head and neck. He walked in a haze like all the rest, tears slowly trickling down his face. Mai's chest contracted painfully and without thinking she reached out to the boy, stopping him in his tracks._

_"_ _Hey, can you hear me? It's okay, don't cry…please…" the poor girl didn't know what to say. She had to save him somehow. The blank face turned towards her and the eyes seemed to recognize her presence. "Who did this to you?" she asked in a whisper. The boy just pointedly looked away from her. As she followed the gaze a strange outline of a large white building emerged from the fog. Looking at the child again she tried to get him to wake up. "Come on, you don't have to stay here. You are free to go, so no one can hurt you." She tried gently…and only then became aware of Gene's voice behind her, screaming for her to get away. Mai didn't get the chance to step back before the small hands grasped her wrist. "They will always hurt me…" the boy whispered and a searing pain – burning and throbbing – split her skull and extended down her body. Gene's hands pulled her away by the shoulders…_

And she woke up to Oliver, shaking her by the shoulders frantically.

"Mai! Mai, wake up! For heaven's sake, wake up!" He yelled cobalt blue eyes wide and full of fear. She blinked up at him dazedly and felt the pain from her dream chase her back to reality. Unable to fight the horrible ache in her temples she just pressed herself into Naru's chest to try and hide from the pain and those horrible memories of people in the fog. For a moment, engulfed by strong, warm arms Mai thought she was shaking, but it soon dawned upon her, that it was Oliver, who was shaking unstoppably. Ignoring the pain she pulled away just enough to take his face into her hands. He looked down upon her with so many emotions swirling in those stormy eyes…it was impossible to decipher.

"Oliver…?" she tried carefully. His eyes slid shut for a second, just to open much more composed.

"You fainted after Lin's ritual. It's been hours and those wounds appeared on your skin just minutes ago. I have been trying to wake you up ever since." He tried to steady his voice, but it was near impossible – watching her suffer without any way to stop it made him feel infuriatingly helpless. A feeling the young scientist hated with a passion. Taking a deep breath to calm down a bit he continued. "How do you feel, does it hurt anywhere else, except your head?"

"M-my neck, on the back…I think…and, and…" the feeling of being safe, protected and loved, tore down through the wall of shock and the tiny girl felt tears flowing and sobs came just a second later – she just couldn't stop it. Oliver held her close for a moment longer, running his hands up and down her back and strictly avoiding the upper shoulder and neck area, just in case. A small knock on the door made the soothing motion stop, though the warmth never left her back. Lifting her head up Mai saw Masako with a cup of tea standing in the doorway. Behind her was Monk and even the client, Sawamura-san.

"Mai…we heard you scream in the base…here, maybe this will help." The medium spoke uncertainly as she reached the cup out for Mai to take. The smell of tea always calmed her down, so she took the steaming cup and relaxed a bit in Oliver's embrace. In a moment he pulled away a little to give her some space.

"Hey, you had one of those dreams again, right?" Monk asked coming to sit on her other side. His hand on the top of her head felt comforting, even though it hurt a bit.

"I did…I'll tell you all about it, just…" she trailed off wondering how to explain the need to have a minute to start breathing again.

"It's okay, were in no hurry…the big bad priest is already taken care of. So whatever this is…can't be worse, right?" he tried at a lighter tone. Though the scorching look from Naru clearly told him his last remark flew way past target. Only following the boss' eyes did he notice the strange marks that looked suspiciously like burns peeking out from under Mai's hair. It made his blood run cold.

"I think this is by far not over…the priest was not the one, who hurt all these people." She spoke quietly and refused to elaborate at the moment.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

A while later all the waking members of SPR along with the client sat in the base room with Mai occupying the chair in the centre and the big boss standing behind her, almost like a bodyguard. Lin has been sent to sleep after the ritual, as it has exhausted him quite a bit and Oliver deemed it unnecessary to wake him up. Thus the tall man was the only one missing.

Mai's temples and neck have been cleaned up and taken care of by Masako and now, the only thing left was to spill it all out. Not that it will be so very easy - the whole dream was elusive to say the least. Taking a deep breath and comforted by Naru's presence so close, she began:

"When I fainted…I woke up in a mist...just like we saw through the monitors. It was actually a forest, but Gene said it was not a forest, but a graveyard now, because a lot of people have been buried there. He said it's not far away from here. All the spirits in the fourth room…they are from the forest. There are many more there, but in here, in this museum, they are sort of…ghosts of ghosts…just apparitions, not really here, so exorcisms don't work on them. They are the ones hurting museum employees, not the priest."

"So he didn't do anything? We banished him for no reason?" Monk seemed dejected. He clearly didn't like the idea of exorcising a soul with no guilt of anything.

Mai just nodded. She couldn't find a way to explain the horrible feeling she got watching those people pass each other by in the fog. Lost and disoriented, wallowing in their pain alone...they made her unbearably sad. That sight will not leave her till the day she dies, she knew. But for now it was not the most important thing. Mai had to find a way to explain why the poor souls did what they did without probably insulting the old archaeologist. I was most likely impossible, but it needed to be done. Looking straight up at the client she continued "The souls in the fourth room are angry, because the tools on exposition there have been used to torture them and bring them suffering…even kill them. But now the people in this museum show them off as entertainment for all these tourists, not paying attention, that these things caused so much pain. That's why the spirits from the forest got angry and started to…punish these people by making them experience the same pain they lived through."

Everyone sat still, and even the chief historian didn't argue or try to defend his co-workers. Actually his eyes grew darker with every word Mai said and by the end of her story his expression looked positively stormy. Oliver, on the other hand, desperately wanted to ask how the heck these spirits have enough power to …basically astral project to the museum and cause damage, when they were dead already. He didn't get the chance.

"Do you know where that forest is?" Masako asked quietly.

"He just told me it's close by…but…" she trailed off remembering one small fact, that nearly slipped her mind. "Oh, right, the tools in that exposition come from the forest, they are the connecting link...so it should be easy to find the location if you know where they were found!" she exclaimed happily only to see the client shake his head.

"It may be the link, as you said, miss, but...the forests cover a large part of the rural area here. It's part of both our landscape and our business. When they brought in the metal tools and other objects I was not there, so the man, who works on cooperation with the school, took them in. He later said it was strange how the kids themselves could not tell him where exactly they found it all. They just said it was a trip up the mountain for the archaeology club, and they stumbled upon these artefacts when they got lost, somehow."

"It's not so surprising; I mean it's a bunch of kids having fun on a field trip..." Monk interrupted, trying to redeem the kids and the situation.

"Well...it is actually." The historian countered "Part of the business in this area of Aomori is mountain trails. We have lovely mountains and forests, so every mountain is ridden with trails, wooden paths, maps and so on. It's nearly impossible to get lost, especially for the locals." He finished, seemingly disturbed by the fact of the club getting lost. It bothered him too much in Oliver's opinion, so there had to be more to it. The young scientist decided to wait and let the man divulge as much information as he will...before starting to interrogate him.

"So did they tell you at least approximate area they found it all in?" Naru prompted the man further.

"All we know is that these objects were found on the south side of the mountain, along the trail to the grotto there. It's not much, but at least a start...though the place is rather rural, so it might be complicated to get there with all that technology..." the elderly man said, looking at the copious amount of wires and cables littering the floor and all the stacks of computers and monitors.

"Sawamura-san, are you saying we'll have to go comb the woods in hopes to find the place? Do you think it's possible?" John asked carefully. He clearly didn't want to insult the client, but had his doubts.

"Maybe I could recognize it if I stumbled upon it..." Mai trailed off before the door swung open and a haphazardly dressed and still sleep tousled Lin strode through it.

"That won't be necessary." He spoke up "I believe I know what we are looking for."

A bit shocked Oliver just raised a sceptical brow at his mentor and asked "How?"

"I...had a dream."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See you in another dream!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are again, finally a new chapter! I'm so sorry for taking this long, but unfortunately life happens. Also, a very big Thank You to all those, who chose to leave a Kudos or subscribe to this story ^.^ I'm immensely thankful for your support and interest in my hallucinations :D
> 
> So, without further ado, have a look at the next chapter.

Oliver stared at his colleague and mentor blankly, not sure how to take his statement. Lin didn't get dreams...he could walk into someone else's dream with preparation, but precognition and retrocognition were not his forte.

"You had a dream?" the young scientist asked with slight disbelief.

"Not exactly." Lin explained sitting himself down on the side of the table and combing his fingers through his hair to put it into some resemblance of his usual orderly haircut. "It was not my dream, but I saw it."

"Explain." Oliver demanded both intrigued and beaten off track. Every other person in the room sat very still and quiet, waiting for information.

"Naru, you know, that Yukiko has dreams with ether precognitive or retrocognitive qualities, but recently she has been able to astral project in her dreams – sometimes great distances. That's how she was able to accompany me on several of our cases so far. Recently her abilities grew again and tonight she was able to take me along into her dream." His tone seemed scholarly, like explaining the theory of relativity, not the fact he dreams his girlfriend every night. Mai absentmindedly envied his ability to speak without any embarrassment.

"Will you tell us what she showed you?" There was no doubt in Naru's voice. He learned very quickly (and the hard way) to trust the Icelandic witch and her ability.

Lin took a deep breath and started to remember his dream…and how much of it should be revealed. It was still so vivid in his mind, so the Chinese man just closed his eyes and let the entire evening play back in his head from the very beginning.

_Lin Koujo couldn't believe his luck – he actually got the chance to sleep two nights in a row. After Mai's little accident everyone, but Naru, stayed in the base and let him go to rest after his ritual. In all honesty he wasn't so deadly tired, but passing such a chance by would just be foolish, so he went to bed anyway. Dressed in warm undershirt and sweatpants he was warm enough, but the futon was lumpy, old and smelled of dust. Nothing he hadn't seen before. With resolve to fall asleep as quickly as possible he closed his eyes…_

_And opened them again in another bed. Their bed. Facing the familiar white ceiling of Yukiko's well lit bedroom he instantly felt a hand, traveling up and down his chest slowly. Turning to his left in slight panic Lin found familiar wicked golden eyes gleaming at him playfully._

_"_ _Hello there, my love." She spoke quietly sliding her hand up to cover his cheek "I've been waiting for a while, you know? You still have a bad habit of not sleeping during cases, hmm? I missed you."_

_"_ _And that's why you decided to walk into my dream? Really Yuki?" he couldn't help the smirk pulling at his lips. This woman was insufferable._

_"_ _Is that not reason enough?" the lovely woman mock pouted lifting herself up to straddle his hips. Smiling from ear to ear she slid forward, burying her fingers in his dark hair and massaging the scalp just the way he likes it. The sorcerers eyes slid shut against his will. This was far more pleasant, than the crappy futon he fell asleep upon._

_"_ _So?" she purred and pecked his lips lightly. Dragging himself out of the relaxed state he blinked and stared her down with a skeptical expression._

_"_ _I suppose it is…but knowing you, there must be something more." Yukiko just sighed but never lost the contented smile._

_"_ _Well, if you have to know…I'm here on business too. The case you are on…I've been seeing it in my dreams lately and I think you should know what I found out."_

_"_ _What is it?" he asked mildly worried. They have just exorcized one pretty strong spirit. What else might be in the museum?_

_"_ _Oh no, I'm afraid you will have to convince me to tell you…I've missed my love in my bed for these last days, so it might be wise to…" she didn't finish her sentence, interrupted by Lin's hot lips on hers._

_He pulled her body close, relishing the feeling of her breasts pressing into his chest and her hands clutching his shoulders for support. This was home – her warm body, her long black hair tickling his face. Wrapping a hand around her neck he pulled the coal black waterfall of her hair out of the way to latch his lips upon her pale throat. Yukiko moaned and involuntarily bucked her hips into his groin. It was Lin's turn to groan. Before losing all ability to think straight he stopped and pulled her away with a small sigh._

_"_ _Am I being convincing enough?" he smirked up at her, watching the usually pale cheeks burn fiery red._

_"_ _For now…"she smiled back, a little breathless but by far not defeated "But when I have you back in our bed I will have my way with you."_

_"_ _Then tell me what you know, so I could find my way home sooner rather than later…These dreams are leaving me in a very peculiar position...I'm just lucky no one slept in the same room yet."_

_That little confection made her laugh out loud. A happy and light sound filled Lin's ears and made him smile despite himself, before he saw Yukiko's face turn serious. She rolled off him and sat cross legged on the bed._

_"_ _The place you are in now is not where you need to be. The souls are not there, they may appear in the rooms, but the real location is a forest. I have been seeing it in my dreams for the last two days. Every time I fall asleep, I go flying over that mountain." She explained, trying to make him understand what they are supposed to look for._

_"_ _Can you give me any markers, something specific? There are a lot of mountains here, Yuki, I have no way to know which one it is…" he asked thoughtfully, trying to run all possibilities in his head._

_"_ _Well…there is a large temple on one side and lots of paths, wooden paths all around the mountain…" Yukiko trailed off, trying to find something specific in her memory before coming to a decision. "I think it will be easier if you see it for yourself."_

_That caused the Chinese man to raise a brow. "How exactly would that work? Did you learn something new again?" he asked only half surprised. His lovely doctor was learning to use and control her power incredibly quickly._

_"_ _I might have." She answered with an elusive smile and took the tall man by the hand, dragging him out of bed with little resistance. Though a bit worried Lin followed her curiously, wondering what trick she will surprise him with this time. Without another word the doctor placed her hand on the bedroom door and drew a glowing rune on it. Then, she threw the door open and it opened to…thin air. The door literally led into the sky, high up above a mountain._

_"_ _Yuki! What are we doing?" the sorcerer asked, unsure how to proceed. Dream walking was not a natural talent for him. He could do it, with preparation, but not to this extent._

_"_ _We are going flying, my love." She smiled just before pulling him into a kiss and stumbling them both through the door. Instead of the anticipated feeling of falling down, they were both floating in the air, completely weightless. The morning sun was playing in her hair and on her face, making her black hair crimson red instead. With a broad grin she pulled them both further, easily flying over the treetops, following the line of the rising mountain. There were paths and even roads underneath._

_They branched over the entire mountain like veins. One particular pathway led to a long flight of stairs and a torii gate that was almost blinding red among the white and green tones of the winter forest. They took a small tour around the mountain top and Lin had a feeling it was just for the view, which was ethereally beautiful, so he couldn't complain. Yukiko probably felt his doubt, because the next moment she landed them upon the stone stairs leading to the temple. It was probably the longest steps to a Shinto temple Lin had ever walked -bulky, old and made of solid rock. Hand in hand the walked through the torii gate and stepped up to a large building structure. Usually temples are quite small…or very large. This one appeared to belong to the second category. There was a huge tree in the middle of the garden and the main building greeted guests with the bells and space to wash, though it was mostly frozen over now._

_"This is where the path starts. This temple is old, and I think it's the only reason the spirits of the mountain are yet to spread down into the valley. It's like a protective barrier." Instead of going closer to the temple the elegant woman led them both towards a wooden path, skillfully hidden on the other side of a building. "The problem is the forest, Koujo, it has too many spirits. Some are supposed to be there, it's an old forest, after all, and the ancient gods are still alive here, but others are trapped. Souls of many humans travel the forest blindly, not even seeing each other. The reason is a building higher up the mountain. It's only ruins now, and they don't show me what it was, but it was large."_

_"So we need to find this particular temple and go on from there, yes?" Lin asked just to confirm if he got it right._

_"Yes. It should be easy. There are very few temples this big in one area. When you get here, go up the paths and find the ruins. That is the source and the spirits drift around locked to it. I tried to speak to them, but very few are conscious enough to understand…" golden eyes shadowed over after the last sentence. Seeing his woman so downtrodden Lin automatically put his arm over her shoulders and pulled her close. Without objection Yukiko leaned into his tall frame and sighed. "This place makes me sad, koishii. For some reason most of the souls here are barely conscious, like people on drugs…but some are aware, and very powerful…"_

_Suddenly the woman's eyes dimmed for a moment and she froze in place. It startled Lin for a second and he grabbed her shoulders to try and get her back from wherever she was._

_"Yuki, what is it? Where are you? Yukiko!" Koujo shook her body rather violently for a second and the woman in his arms came to._

_"Other dream walker was here, I think it was Mai. Her visit…might have been unpleasant. Koujo, she is growing stronger, just like me."Yukiko looked up at her sorcerer with concern and laid both her palms on his face, trapping the tall man in place "Protect her. All of you. She is strong, but her emotions are too closely tied to the spirit world. It's both her greatest strength and her biggest weakness. Don't let her get lost, my love." She finished solemnly and gently pressed her lips to his. Lin could see how serious his witch was and it made him worry._

_"We won't. I promise to do our best to look after her." he vowed seriuosly_ __and tried to lighten the mood "_ Also...Oliver is so smitten he barely lets her out of his sight."He smiled "That boy is possessive, he won't let anything happen to her, believe me."_

_The little jab at his favorite ward earned Lin a crooked smile. "He is not the only one smitten, I believe." She teased before drawing a small glowing rune on his chest. "But now you must go. Tell them all this."_

_When her palm slid over the small symbol Lin woke up on his dusty futon in the museum and bolted upright._

Deciding to skip the first part of the dream, as pleasant as it was, Lin explained in detail what he saw and the best markers to find it. The main thing he could think of was a very large temple on the northern side of a mountain, high up (because the stairs were so ridiculously long).

"Alright, Mai said it was not far way, so I can guess there should be few temples that big in close proximity." Oliver stood up instantly to go over to his laptop and try finding the exact location.

"Yeah, I mean there are few temples that big in general. Are you sure it was not a Buddhist monastery, or something?" Monk piped in. The description reminded him too much of his home temple.

"I can tell the difference, Takigawa. It was Shinto, I'm certain. The gate alone is telling enough. Also there was _temizusha_ , though it was partly frozen over. And the barrier around the temple was made of wood. It's old. Very old." Lin argued remembering as many details as he possibly could.

"And the forest was nearby?" Mai asked, still remembering the grand, ancient forest from her dream.

"Just behind the buildings." Lin confirmed.

"By any chance…was there a large Sakura tree in the middle of the temple gardens?" The client asked quietly and very carefully. It seemed almost like he didn't want to know the answer. Every single person in the room turned their heads to the middle aged archeologist, but he was pointedly looking at the floor. Then all glances turned on Lin, who seemed to be slightly derailed, but got his composure back in an instant.

"As a matter of fact, yes, there was a large and very old tree in the middle of the garden, though I couldn't tell if it was a Sakura – the tree is bare during winter." He answered piercing the older man with a scrutinizing gaze. Even Naru lifted his head up from the screen and was watching intently.

"Do you happen to know of such a shrine, Sawamura-san?" The boss asked pointedly looking at the man, who was still very interested in the floor mats.

"I believe I know the shrine you are talking about." After a short pause he added "My family owns it…so to speak."

The collective "What?!" nearly made the poor old scientist fall out of his chair.

"Please elaborate." Naru almost ordered in a very strict voice.

Sighing the client lifted his head up and looked around at the young people in the room. To him they all seemed like children almost, but he clearly underestimated them. He had his theories and really didn't want for them to become reality…

"That temple is only seven miles away, up the mountain. It was there for the last four hundred years. Technically all temples belong to the government, so this one is also not ours, but my family was responsible for running this temple for twelve generations now."

"Twelve?!" Monk nearly jumped out of his chair and quickly falling back started to count on his fingers how many years that could be…in a moment he blanched.

"Yes. Nearly from the beginning of its life." The archeologist confirmed.

"But if your family is responsible for running the temple, how can you work here, Sawamura-san?" Masako asked a little surprised. "As much as I know, you ought to be the high priest…"

"You see, Miss, I'm not the oldest son." He explained, falling back into his normal scholarly tone "My brother Hiroshi is running the shrine now, he is currently the high priest. Since he chose to stay and take over father's position, I was free to choose any other occupation, so I became an archeologist. We both loved history, me and my brother, I suppose it's inevitable when you grow up in a four hundred year old buildings." The man smiled wistfully to himself.

"Alright, that spares us the time finding the temple, I assume you will be willing to arrange a visit with your brother? One of your own co-workers is still comatose, after all." Oliver was clearly not too happy about the withheld information, but he understood that the man couldn't have known it was important. However the young boss was determined to get all possible information out of the man now, and decide whether it's relevant or not later.

"Yes, of course I will contact him in the morning and warn him of your visit. If you like we can be there by midday tomorrow."

"Very well. Also we will need someone to guide us up the mountain on the aforementioned paths. There must be another building up there, higher than the shrine. Do you happen to know anything about it?" Oliver inquired, watching the client keenly, to be sure he wouldn't lie. The pause after this question was considerably longer, but the client still answered.

"I know there was a building there, couple of miles up the mountain, maybe a little more, but it was demolished when I was a child, about forty years ago. I don't know what it was, our parents never spoke about it and we never really asked. It was forbidden to play in the demolished site…and at the time we still obeyed our parents…so we didn't really go up there." The spectacled man explained, but his eyes darted to the side avoiding Oliver's gaze, which became the reason for the boss to believe there is more to this story.

"You are not children anymore, Sawamura-san, and yet I can only assume no one goes up there even now. Why?"

"Well the wooden paths were made around ten years ago, for tourists to go higher up the mountain, so you cannot say _no one_ goes there…" the archeologist was clearly avoiding the question, but Naru refused to be derailed.

"Are they in use, the paths?"

Silence was deafening in the room.

"Well?" Naru pressed further, quickly losing his patience "We cannot help you, Sawamura-san, if you refuse to give us information. We can, and will, find it from other sources if we have to, but if you hired us, I can only assume you want this bloody mess to be over…So I shall ask you again. Are the paths in use?"

Mai sat beside her boyfriend slightly shocked. It was a while after the last time she heard Naru speaking to a client in that tone. He was pissed, clearly, and his patience was running out. She secretly wondered if this will be the last day of their investigation, because the client might just send them back home…Watching the kindly scientist wringing his hands she waited. This will be the deciding moment – he will ether cave and divulge the truth, or send them howling. After almost solid two minutes of silence, the client spoke up once again.

"You and your team…you are just children to me, my daughter's age, most of you. I honestly don't want you to get hurt in this mess. If the situation in the museum was bad enough it will be worse up there." He sighed ad looked straight at Naru, trying to convince the young man to give up on that particular train of thought, but instead was met with steely and unwavering gaze of cobalt blue eyes. Realizing they are not backing down, he reluctantly continued. "Those paths were made twelve years ago as part of a program to get more tourists coming in. My brother, who was the head priest, was happy to have the paths coming through our temple – it meant more traffic. But soon we realized it may not have been the brightest idea. The paths were very popular, due to the beauty of the woods, but there were a lot of…accidents. People would stumble, say someone caught their feet, come back saying they heard someone talking when there was nobody there. In the next two years it got worse – tourists, who climbed the southern side of the mountain, were fine, but the ones, who chose the northern side - the paths behind our temple – would periodically get lost or missing.

Most were never found, so eventually we decided to close the entire northern side of the mountain for visitors and block the paths, as they were unsafe. Of course our family knew the problem was not the paths, but the forest itself. Me and my brother did not inherit the sight, so all we knew was our mother telling us to never go there, because our souls will be trapped." Taking a deep breath he looked over the entire team, littering the chairs and tables, even the floor, and with resolve announced "Therefore I will be happy to arrange the visit to the temple, but I will not allow you to take the paths up the mountain. There is no one who has climbed there in ten years – so there is no one to guide you."

"Then I'm afraid we are going to have to be the first ones to walk those paths in ten years." Naru announced standing up and very demonstratively packing up his laptop. The rest of the team silently followed suit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it for now, I will try to update quickly :)
> 
> As for cultural side-notes:
> 
> temizusha - it's a small building with water basins or something simmilar. It's meant for the visitors of the shrine to wash their hands and rinse their mouths in a sort of purification ritual.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's another chapter! Have fun reading :)

The remaining night hours ticked away quickly with the soft shuffling of Lin and Monk, who were packing the monitors back into the appropriate boxes. Instead of helping them, Mai chose to sit with their still unhappy and even slightly angry client. To calm him down she decided to tell stories about their previous cases and how it all ended well, no matter how dangerous the circumstances. Slowly her words seemed to seep into the older man's head and he calmed down to the point of actually helping Lin and Takigawa pack.

Mai felt exhausted, but was too afraid to fall asleep, especially alone in the girl's room, so she just sat beside Naru on the one of the chairs and tried not to nod off. That was an impossible task, so after nearly an hour of valiant effort she still ended up with her head tucked snugly into the nook of her boyfriend's shoulder, snoring quietly. Oliver let her, knowing this way he at least can monitor her condition. When the packing was over and a whole stack of boxes waited for the first light o be moved, Monk talked Sawamura-san into sleeping in one of the rooms while Masako slumbered quietly in the chair and John joined Lin by the former monitor table, currently used for reading. Lin and Oliver ended up the only ones awake till morning.

When the first rays of red winter sunrise tickled the land and flowed through the windows, about eight in the morning all inhabitants of the museum were given a minor heart attack.

In the peaceful silence of the early morning sirens went off on full volume. The jarring, earsplitting sound rather rudely woke up entire SPR team - whole building was howling like mad. Upon the first wails of the sirens Mai fell out of her chair, Lin stood up so quickly he sent his chair falling back and a minute later tousled Monk fell through the door in panic.

"Naru, what the hell?" He yelled over the sirens, long and messy hair standing every which way after an uneasy night.

"Probably alarm system, someone is trying to get in." Oliver yelled back over the racket. It was a pity they had no cameras on the front entrance. Before SPR composed themselves enough to go check the door the howling stopped. Unsure what happened exactly the whole team carefully stepped out into the hallway with Lin taking the front and Monk the back, for safety reasons. Soon they found out there was no need – a very crumpled and half awake Sawamura Hotarou walked up the stairs accompanied by a broadly smiling Yasuhara Osamu, and another tall figure, whom the team instantly recognized as Matsui-san, Yukiko's assistant. He was grinning, but still managed to look a little guilty.

"Good morning…I suppose, and sorry about the wakeup call…" the white hared man spoke up before anyone could start yelling at them, and it seemed quite a few people felt the desire to do just that.

"What on earth are you doing here so early?" Monk poked his head out from the back of the crowd, directing his gaze at Yasu.

"Well, you said you needed the information as quickly as possible, so we decided to come early…" he seemed a bit sheepish but not really regretful. "You look like you had quite a night." He added tracing the team with a perceptive and a bit mischievous glance.

"You have no idea…" Mai groaned. Her neck hurt form sleeping on Naru's shoulder, and she felt like falling over. Along the way towards the former base Oliver unceremoniously told Osamu the information he gathered is of no relevance anymore, which made him glare daggers at his boss and the entire team had a bit of comic relief at least. It was light enough for them to start carrying the boxes and with additional help from Matsui-san the process was quick. Though Monk still couldn't understand why Yasu took Matsui-san with him he couldn't really complain – a set of extra hands was always useful.

At ten the entire van was packed back up and the team was ready to head out to the second location. Sawamura-san called his brother over an hour ago, informing him about the team of investigators and their wishes to climb the mountain. After a few minutes of persuading, they got free pass to the temple at least, now the only problem was how to get there in the middle of winter with three cars.

"Sawamura-san, is there any way not to use the stairs to the temple?" Lin asked trying to keep impassive, but his reluctance still showed a little.

"Yes, of course. The steps are for the tourists, we can drive around the other side, it will take a little longer, but at least you can park in the grounds themselves." The elderly man soothed, he was still reluctant, but at least willing to let them try.

"That's good to know!" Monk smiled weary, he really was not looking forward to another session of hauling equipment around. After nearly half an hour of driving around slippery winter roads they were finally there.

The sight that greeted them was a large and expansive garden, littered with paths and various buildings - not only the main temple but smaller halls and what seemed like living quarters for the priest's family. The buildings were old and magnificent, with grand wooden beams and ornate rooftops – it felt like stepping back in time. A few servants scurried around wearing kimonos and the only stain on the perfect painting of serenity was a grounds keeper, who was rather violently shoveling snow off of pathways in bulky and a little worn contemporary clothes. The entire team obediently followed Sawamura-san towards the further buildings. The elderly man pleasantly smiled and greeted the worker shoveling snow:

"Good morning, Makoto-kun!" he said cheerily, but only received a glance and half bow in acknowledgement. The worker's dark eyes, half hidden by a thick woolen hat, fell on the man for a moment only, but it was enough to see a scar running over his face, just beside right eye. Most of the team walked around the young man carefully. As they were a bit past hearing range Monk couldn't hold back a little commentary.

"You should probably think about firing that one, he's bound to frighten the tourists away." He said only half jokingly. It made the archeologist laugh out loud for a moment, before he managed to control his mirth and answered with a bright smile.

"I'm afraid we can't fire him."

"Why not?" Hoshou seemed honestly incredulous.

"Well, first and foremost, he is the young master of this temple…" Sawamura answered, honestly amused by the shocked expressions on the faces of quite a few team members. "He's my brother's only son and even if he looks a bit scary, don't be afraid of him. Makoto may not be the cheery type, but he is a gentle person."

"It may be inappropriate to ask, but why the master of the temple is shoveling snow?" John asked tentatively. It seemed like the temple was large and successful enough to have servants for such tasks.

"Don't worry, it's alright. He simply enjoys physical labor, so in the summer he works in the gardens and in the winter clears the paths of snow. Even the hired help got used to it over the years…" the old archeologist was smiling fondly as he led them into an old-fashioned household, but behind the door it was almost like a normal home – warm and cozy. One thing Mai noticed along the entrance was a strange drawing of a single red spider lily encased in a circle. It marked the beams of the entrance, but the tiny assistant paid it no mind at the time, the warmth awaiting inside was too tempting. When they had the chance to get out of heavy winter jackets the home owners were already there to greet them.

"Good morning and welcome to our home." The elderly man spoke first. He resembled Sawamura-san a little, but was nearly completely bald and a little taller. "I am Sawamura Hiroshi and this is my wife Yuuko." He introduced politely and the lovely woman in dark blue kimono bowed in greeting. They swiftly led the entire team into a large room with a long table, decked for breakfast.

"It may be a little too late for breakfast, but we hope you will indulge us anyway." The lovely elderly woman smiled. She was a little rounder, than her husband, but the warmth in her eyes made the fullness seem like a good thing. Mai came to think she would like to have a grandmother like that. Since the whole team was still famished – they never stopped to eat – the meal was a quiet and quick affair.

"Is your son not coming to eat with us?" Oliver asked. It may have seemed like a polite question, but Mai, Lin and even Monk knew better. He wanted an interview, the workaholic.

"He should join us any minute now, if not for food, then at least for tea." Yuuko told them sweetly. After that her husband seemed to find it appropriate to breach the subject.

"My brother told me you think the happenings in his museum have something to do with this temple?"

"Not exactly the temple, but I believe we should discuss this when we can type your statement." Naru explained looking around for his workbook and Lin's laptop.

"Then perhaps we should have some tea in the guest rooms."

When they settled with teacups in a large old fashioned room Naru began asking questions immediately, Lin at his side with a report page open.

"Sawamura-san, your brother told us your family runs this temple for a while now. How long?"

"Three hundred and around twenty years." The man answered impassively.

"We can assume your family lived here for all this time?"

"Yes, of course." He seemed unsure where the whole discussion was headed.

"Do you happen to know of any building structures higher than the temple, in the forests?" Naru asked without changing tone, but his eyes became sharper, gauging the man's reactions.

"There…was a building up the mountain, about seventy years back, an official facility. I believe it was a hospital, but I cannot be sure. It was working for a while and then was demolished around forty years ago."

"Anything in particular about that place?" Oliver prodded again. The older brother carefully glanced at his sibling and his wife, as if asking for permission. Finally he spoke up.

"When we were children, right after the demolition, some kids from the village would go up there to play. Our mother never let us go, because she said it was dangerous, we didn't understand why…until the children started coming back with strange bruises, burns and so on. There was no way they could have gotten hurt in the forest, not like that…and some didn't come back at all. We were curious, as children often are, and asked our parents what was wrong with that place."

"Did they know?" Mai asked without thinking. The more the priest spoke, the clearer she could see a large white building with a big safety fence in her mind's eye. It made her feel cold and scared for some reason, but she didn't push the vision away.

"My father was an excellent exorcist, but our mother was a medium, she once told me that the ruins are a bad place, full of spirits, who are angry and sad. Unfortunately neither I nor my brother inherited her sight, so we thought it was just tales. Still, people kept getting hurt, so we really didn't go up there." He finally finished. It was the same tale the younger brother recited, so Oliver felt no trickery there, except maybe lack of information.

"Yasuhara" he spoke up after a minute of silence "That is your new job. Find out as much as you can about the building, its history and if anyone in town still remembers it."

"Sure thing, boss. Just if this task becomes irrelevant warn me, so I wouldn't print it out…" Yasu smiled ruefully at the CEO and got up for work. Matsui-san, who sat reasonably quietly all morning, looked up at the boss as well.

"Shibuya-san, perhaps I could tag along and be the taxi driver, if you won't need me here? Also two mouths are always better than one."

"Fine, go with him. If you are sure you can spare the time, Matsui-san." Tsuyoshi just smiled at that and both researchers left without another word. Only then did the remaining members notice Mai sitting and staring blankly at the table.

"Mai? Are you alright?" Masako asked, unsure if her friend can hear it. For Masako it was easier to keep spirits at bay in a sacred space, like the temple, but it was apparently not working for Mai.

"Mai, talk." Oliver demanded quite loudly. His voice seemed to break through the haze.

"I saw the building. It was large and white…and there was a fence, big fence to keep them in. It looked like a prison. Then I keep seeing a man with white beard and a mole under his left eye…and the symbol by the door." When finished Mai blinked a few times before returning to reality fully. Oliver fidgeted in his seat, clearly wanting to go over to her, but he stayed put. Mai just sighed. ' _My idiot scientist and his bloody pride…_ '

"Do any of you have an idea who the man in this vision might be?" the boss asked all family members.

"It's my grandfather." Came a simple and clipped answer from behind. By an open shoji stood a man dressed in black yukata, his stark features a bright contrast to the dark material. There was no doubt who this man was, though without bulky clothes and an old hat he looked barely recognizable.

"Makoto, don't be rude to our guests!" Yuuko instantly reprimanded her son, but he seemed to ignore her indignation.

"I simply answered their question, mother." The young man said tonelessly. Lin barely managed to hide a smile behind his laptop. The interaction reminded him uncannily of the way Luella would talk to Noll.

"Could you elaborate?" Oliver demanded ignoring the rest of the family. He had a feeling this young man will be more forthcoming.

"What do you want to know exactly?" he asked sitting himself down and pouring some tea into one of the teacups.

"What kind of a man your grandfather was and how could he be associated with the ruins up the mountain. Also about the symbol by the door…"

"By the symbol you mean this?" the young man tuned slightly to show the back of his robe, and surely, there was the same mark – a red spider lily encased in a circle. Mai just nodded.

"It's our family heraldic. This family was long known for its spiritualists, and exorcists in particular, so our symbol is the spider lily. You may, or may not know, but this flower symbolizes passing the roads to the land of the dead."

"That's true." Masako agreed instantly "The spider lily is also known as ghost lily, because it is believed these flowers bloom by the road to the land of the dead and helps lost souls to find their way. That's why they are planted in cemeteries."

Young master's eyes fell instantly on the tiny girl in gray and violet kimono, he looked at her for a second too long, perhaps, then simply nodded. Masako sat rooted to the spot. When they passed the man by upon their arrival she found him a little scary, with the dark eyes and the scarred face…but now she noticed his eyes are not dark at all, they are actually green. Deep, vivid green, like the forest.

"And what about your grandfather?" Oliver inquired.

"He was the last well known exorcist in this family, quite powerful. Unfortunately he passed away fourteen years ago. I may be wrong, but I believe he tried to deal with the spirits up the mountain and failed. Though the report said it was heart failure."

"So there are no more exorcists in this family?" Monk asked, a little disappointed. It's always sad to lose family traditions like that.

"Well not exactly…" the high priest said carefully and looked at his son.

"I am currently the only exorcist in this family." The green eyed man answered calmly. "That makes me the chief exorcist of this temple."

"So I presume you have some form of psychic sensitivity?" Naru asked to clarify. He had seen many people claim to be psychic. More than half are usually fake.

"I suppose you could call it that. My sister is better at seeing spirits, but she doesn't want anything to do with it. I was always better at seeing non human spirits, like your friend's pets." He answered looking at Lin. The Chinese man's eyes grew to unusual proportions very quickly.

"You can see my Shiki?" He asked incredulous. All the team members stared at the young master in unveiled awe. Even Masako was only able to sense the presence of Lin's Shiki…

"That's what they are? You bound them?"

"Yes. Usually even psychics can't see them." Lin did seem a bit taken aback by the ability of the young man.

"Why not? Technically they're nature spirits. It's humans who choose to call them demons." Oliver watched the entire scene unfold quietly and weighed his options. The new information posed several questions.

"Sawamura-san" the blue eyes man turned towards the primary client, interrupting the conversation in his usual 'I could not care less' manner. "If you already had a spiritualist at your disposal, why didn't you come for help to your nephew?"

"Well, you see… I wanted to keep…" the archeologist started just to be silenced by the man in question.

"Uncle, why do you intend to lie?" the family heir asked and his uncle fell silent instantly.

"Makoto!" Both his parents yelled at the same time, but it seemed to have no effect.

"Uncle did come to me for help about two weeks ago. He told me about the injuries in the museum and demanded that I got rid of the spirits. He had suspicions it may be connected to the forest, because recently they took up some things found nearby and used them for showcasing, or so I understand. I simply told him to return what does not belong to him to the forest. He didn't like my advice, refused, and went to look for help elsewhere."

"You cannot simply give up on an entire collection and go bury it in the forest!" Hotarou exclaimed incredulous. "That's not how archeology works!"

"Then I'm afraid you will need all the people you can get to cleanse all the spirits on that mountain." Makoto answered tonelessly. He clearly didn't like his uncle's perspective on the matter.

"You seem to know a lot about it." Naru commented "Where does this knowledge come from?"

"I used to play on the old paths as a child. I've been up by the ruins many times and saw the extent of harm done there, so I know it's near impossible to release all these spirits. There are dozens."

"If you went up there, I can assume you know the path?" Oliver was already forming a plan in his head, it was coming together rather quickly.

"Obviously."

"In that case, would you be willing to take us there?"

"Absolutely not!" both Sawamura brothers exclaimed terrified, but the youngest man in the family seemed to ignore them completely. He clearly was very stubborn and not easy to frighten into submission.

"I can, but you will have to wait a little. I have ceremonial duties today, until about three in the afternoon. Then we may go. Until that time do not allow any of your team members wander there alone." He said the last sentence looking straight at Masako. Somehow the young man knew of her ability, which was not entirely surprising – she was famous after all.

"I understand. We'll wait for your return then." Oliver nodded and started to calculate the time and where to spend it.

"Sawamura Makoto, I forbid you to do this!" Hiroshi nearly yelled at his son "I am the master of this house and this temple, you will obey me!"

"You are also the man, who told me it's time for me to take up the responsibility of running this temple just few days ago, are you not?" the green eyed man asked, standing up elegantly. He held his head high and refused to back down "If you believed me capable of taking the right decisions then, what changed now?"

The older man fell silent for a second before replying "This temple guarded the land below for the last four ages, we are capable to keep this at bay. There is no need to aggravate the state of the mountain."

"So the best way to avoid a land mine is to step on it and stand very still? Is that what you are suggesting, father?"

"No, that's not…How can I make you see reason?" The elder man was still angry, but a little more restrained now.

"I can't see reason where there is only fear. You have been afraid of that mountain for twenty years if not longer. Do you think turning away until it gets out of hand will protect us?" Makoto asked gently, looking at his father with genuine question in his eyes. It seemed to soften the old patriarch a little, but he still had one card left to play.

"You know you are not yet high priest, so it is not your decision to make. And you will not become one until you marry, son, so you still have to obey my wishes."

Every drop of fondness drained from the young man's face leaving only cold and determined fire burning in his vivid eyes. "Then find me a wife before midday, father, because I don't intend to change my mind." With that Sawamura Makoto simply turned on his heel and left the room sliding the shoji into place with a little too much force. Everyone in the team sat very still, even Oliver had the sense to keep his mouth shut. The scene was certainly not something you see every day.

"Darling" Yuuko spoke gently, reaching out for her husband "We had enough scenes in front of our guests. Perhaps we should let this matter rest for a few hours. And maybe the time rally came for this curse upon our land to be resolved."

Her husband didn't answer. He simply stood, bowed to the SPR team and left the rooms. The client was about to follow suit, but Naru's voice stopped him.

"Sawamura-san, you are our client, therefore it is your choice to make us stay or leave. Even if you choose for us to leave, I'm afraid we will fund this operation ourselves and find another location to work from. This haunting is dangerous, volatile and it must be stopped."

The old scientist just nodded and left the room after his brother. Though reluctant, he seemed willing to at least argue their case with his brother. All they could expect is that two family men can sway the odds in their favour.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was a sort of an interlude to the next stage of this story, so bear up with me for a little while, more action is coming ^.^
> 
> As for cultural notes:
> 
> The information about spider lilies in this chapter is all true. They are a rather lovely flowers often found in cemeteries and on river banks.
> 
> See you next chapter!


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, my dear readers! Once again thank you for taking interest in this story and commenting on it. That really gives me some motivation to write ^.^
> 
> So, have a look at what I have concocted!

For the first time in years Masako found herself washing dishes. She was not used to such tasks, but since Mai so kindly offered the lady of the house to help clean up the table...Masako also couldn't say no. Thus she stood with her sleeves bound back, elbow deep in soapy water.

"You probably would like to know why the scene you saw ended the way it did..." the elderly woman spoke up gently after about twenty minutes of uncomfortable silence.

"You don't have to explain, Sawamura-san..." Mai denied instantly, though Masako could tell she was curious even without looking at the girl. Mai was a bad liar.

"It's quite alright, dear...I actually might benefit from asking two young women for advice. You see, by our family tradition a man can only become high priest after he is married, because in these parts people still believe it is unfortunate to be married by and unmarried man. And...well, you saw my son, so you might understand why we have trouble passing the legacy to him." she smiled sheepishly. Mai smiled back, but Masako somehow felt it was uncalled for.

"I fail to see what is wrong with your son, Sawamura-san." She said rather sternly, never lifting her hands out of the water. Mai froze while drying the dishes and stared for a moment.

"Well, he is not exactly what you may call classically handsome...And his character is troublesome. Makoto, despite having a good heart, is a bit of a loner – he's not very good at dealing with people." She explained quietly, putting the dishes away and sweeping the counters "We even tried _Miai_ , but he simply scares the girls away..."

" _Miai_ as in arranged marriages?" Mai asked curiously. She knew it was still done, but never had met a person, who actually tried. Imagining the stern young man dragged to a coffee shop and left to woo a girl with half her family watching made Mai snigger.

"Well, yes. The old families still persist the habit, and to be honest we had very little choice. Makoto barely leaves home for anything but work and research..."

"Sounds familiar." Mai smiled, quickly drawing the parallels between the young master and her favourite narcissist.

"The girls these days want their men handsome, charming, friendly and mild tempered...so it's hard to find anyone willing to even try. Perhaps you would have some advice?" she directed the question at both girls, but while Mai was trying to find something wise to say Masako spoke up.

"First of all, stop selling your son short. As much as I know about PR the point is to choose the public you are aiming for. You are very wrong in thinking your son is undesirable. He may lack people skills, as you pointed out, but charisma is something he has plenty of, clearly. He may not be a polished beauty, but he seemed strong, healthy and ruggedly handsome. Many producers would kill to get someone like that on screen, especially if we count in his spiritual gifts and sharp wit. You are trying to sell him off as an average husband to an average girl. That kind of girl wants a quiet, mild man with a nine-to-five job. What would probably benefit your effort is to show your son off as exceptionally talented, charismatic and one of a kind - an heir to a three hundred year old line of exorcists. Girls will come swarming in, believe me."

The two women stood stock still, too shocked by the little lecture to find anything to say. During that time Masako washed the sink, dried her hands off and left the kitchen with an excuse for some air. Sawamura Yuuko broke out of her stupor to gaze after the tiny girl speculatively.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

As the midday rolled in and sun slowly climbed over the zenith the team settled in the guest room still waiting to be shooed out, but the house owner never came around. At ten minutes before three in the afternoon Sawamura Makoto slid a shoji door open still wearing his black ceremonial kimono and well worn wooden beads around his wrist. His face was weathered and cheeks slightly pink from the cold.

"If you still want a tour up the mountain I would advise you to dress warmly and quickly, we have little time left before twilight comes in. Meet me at the entrance in ten minutes." With that he turned on his heel and disappeared through the door again.

"I don't know how this guy works with people..." Takigawa pointed out looking at the empty door. "No nonsense, isn't he?"

"Better than too much pomp and circumstance." Oliver pointed out. "Get dressed, and don't forget portable sound recording. We may as well take a portable infrared camera too. Lin, did we take one from the office?"

"We have, I'll get it from the van." The tall assistant answered instantly and went out to dress and retrieve said equipment.

In ten minutes everyone stood patiently by the entrance cuddled up in their winter jackets. When the young master came to open the door from the outside everyone, except for Naru and Lin, jumped up.

"Come, quickly, before we have another scene on our hands." He said looking the team over and sceptically raising a brow at Masako, who still wore her winter kimono and shoes with small heels.

He led them behind the "House of the god" – a small building where a relic of some sort is usually enshrined. Behind it was a path covered in snow and blocked by two large boulders. He walked around them without second glance and started up the path.

"How far up is it?" Monk asked looking at the long winding path between the trees.

"About half an hour in the summer, so a bit longer now. If we keep pace, that is. Be careful and don't wander off the path for any reason. The mountain sides are steep and soon we'll start feeling the spirits."

Mai and Masako didn't need to be told about it, they both could feel a wave of almost tangible pressure the moment they stepped over the barrier protecting the temple. Masako could barely walk forward – it felt like walking against incredibly strong wind. Mai, on the other hand, felt nauseous, she grabbed Oliver's hand for support just to keep walking.

In less than five minutes Masako started to see figures, hiding behind trees and bushes, some just gliding around aimlessly. She wondered if anyone else saw them too and eventually decided to voice her thoughts:

"Does anyone else see the spirits behind the trees and further in the woods?"

"I do." Makoto answered unwavering "There will be more, so be ready. Most are harmless, they don't even notice people, but some are fully aware."

"I can feel them." Mai whispered clinging to Oliver's hand. She was shivering unstoppably and the view started to blur into two different timelines making her feel sick. She could vaguely see corpses and barely covered mass graves on the sides of the road. They were in various states of decay. Ignoring the nausea and throbbing pain in both her hand and head from the recent burns, she kept walking forward, using Noll as a cane. He noticed her distress but kept walking anyway, just to see how far they can get.

"Lin, is the camera running?"

"Yes. We have interesting footage." The sorcerer answered stoically, failing to explain anything else. Monk's curiosity won out and he peeked his head over the Chinese man's shoulder.

"What the hell?! How many of them are there? It's blue stains everywhere...like seven on the left and even more on the right!" Hoshou exclaimed loudly, completely forgetting he was holding the microphone. Naru gave the Monk a scolding look and just kept dragging the team forward.

Only halfway to their destination the entire team walked into a fog, despite the fact it should be impossible during winter...

"This is normal." Makoto explained without prompting "The fog never goes away. Stay close to each other, if you get lost in the fog, there is little chance to find you. Hold onto the closest person to you – their hand or clothing." youngest Sawamura ordered. Soon he felt someone tug on his sleeve and turned to find Hara Masako holding on to his thick winter coat with nearly blue fingers. She was shivering. "You are not dressed for this trip, Hara-san." Makoto reprimanded looking the tiny girl over. When he got no answer, the young exorcist simply sighed and proceeded to take off his scarf then wrapping it tightly around her neck and shoulders. Taking his glove off, he grabbed her hand in his own – much bigger and warmer one – and kept walking forward with his other hand on Lin's shoulder.

Masako suddenly woke up from a half trance as the thick wool settled around her shoulders. It smelled of pine, musk and incense – a very warm and soothing smell. Looking up she saw the client's nephew already turning away. Even in the state of near freezing with all her energy allocated to keep up barriers, medium still had the grace to blush profusely and was grateful he couldn't see.

Suddenly the path turned left and Lin, along with Monk were left to stand, waiting for further instructions.

"Where now? We follow the path?"

"No. Here we leave the path. The ruins are straight up, so try to follow in my footsteps and don't lose sight of one another." Makoto explained and let go of Masako's hand to go to the very front of the group. They barely walked a couple hundred meters into the woods when a startled cry from Mai stopped everyone in their tracks. Turning back Lin saw Naru and Mai - they were the last ones in the long line the team has formed, and they were not walking.

"What happened?" He shouted but no answer came and one of the huddled figures slumped to the ground. Surprisingly it was not Mai. Without second thought Lin nearly threw the camera to Monk and ran down the slope to his ward. Oliver was on the ground, unmoving, but his bare hand gripped something metal sticking out of the ground. Pushing the snow away Lin quickly realized the metal structure is an old cot. And Oliver was touching it barehanded. Instantly he ripped the boy's hand away from the cold metal, but that didn't wake him up. In slight panic the Chinese man saw his ward's eyes are open, but completely blank. Every single person in the team gathered around the two men, but there was nothing they could do.

"What happened?" Makoto asked worried.

"He slipped and..." Mai answered with teary eyes.

"What's wrong with him?" Takigawa added watching his boss wide eyed.

"Psychometry. Usually it's not this bad... We must go back." Lin answered in a rush before standing up with Naru in his arms and nearly running back down the path. The team followed instantly.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Almost two hours later Naru was still unconscious, lying in a warm futon in one of the temple's guest rooms. The entire family became much more cooperative upon seeing SPR leader in such a state, so the team was allowed to stay and given comfortable rooms, but no one wanted to leave the boss' side. Eventually Monk dragged back one monitor and some sound equipment so they could check the tapes for any information. Lin was going over the infrared tape and John listened to the sound recording while everyone else, including the youngest Sawamura, sat around the boss quietly.

He almost seemed asleep, except his eyes were constantly moving. At times he would start to trash about under the covers. But the worst, for Mai at least, were the tears that would slip down quietly, from time to time. She sat there and cried with him, unable to do much else than hold his hand.

Lin tried everything he knew to wake his pupil up, but eventually nothing helped and he said Noll will have to ride this vision out before he wakes up. And so, they sat quietly, watching for any signs of waking.

"I think I found something." John said taking the headphones off. "It's pretty short, but very clear, listen."

Pulling the headphone plug he let the sound stream through the speakers and raised the volume. After a moment of static a clear male voice could be heard

" _Let us go...set us free...please. Oh, rain..._ "

"Rain?" Monk asked, clearly bewildered. "The last word was rain, right? Or maybe I misheard it?"

"It was." Answered a quiet voice of Oliver. He had woken up during the recording and was staring at the ceiling with sad, but fully aware eyes. "It was her name, Ame (A/N meaning _Rain_ )."

"Naru! You're okay? Does anything hurt?" Mai asked instantly making some space for Lin and John beside the boss' bed.

"No...It was just a vision, Mai, I'm fine." He did seem uninjured, but somehow unbearably sad.

"You said it was her name. Who's name?" Lin asked, gently prodding his ward for information.

"The girl's. There were two of them, twins, just like me and Gene. His name was Ryu and her name was Ame. They were left there, in that building by their parents...it seemed they might have been eight or nine at the time. The twin's...I watched them both use telekinesis more than once, they had abilities, just like us, except no one trained them. That institution...Mai, call Yasuhara and ask him if he found anything out."

When the brown haired assistant finally managed to get a hold of Osamu he just said they were on their way back and refused to explain if they found anything. The young law student walked into the main room less than half an hour later, white as a sheet. Matsui Tsuyoshi followed him closely with a stormy expression on his face.

"Mai, tea." Oliver asked not even looking at his girlfriend, but this time it didn't bother her. He was clearly very upset about something. When a fresh pot of tea was shared among the group Oliver decided to prompt his best researcher, who was surprisingly reluctant to show them what he found.

"Yasuhara-san, did you find anything of interest?"

"I wish I hadn't, but this town knows far more, than it reveals on first glance. To start at the beginning, the building up the mountain was officially listed as a psychiatric clinic in 1938. It was only the beginning of such institutions in Japan, since we had no system of taking care of the mentally ill, but that's for later. It was officially working until 1971 and then, after a large fire, was closed and demolished soon after. The people have heard many rumours about that place, but we chose to listen only to those, who worked there - we found four. Two nurses, one guard and one former resident doctor. But before proceeding to their...statements, I want you to know more about the laws concerning the mentally ill in Japan. Our country may be developed in many areas, but not in psychiatric care. Up to 1919, when 'Mental illness act' was released it was completely nonexistent. The people who had mental illness were believed possessed and ether quietly disposed of or kept at home in basements or cells. After this document some hospitals appeared, but they spread slowly and home detention was still allowed. Mental patients had no human rights whatsoever. Around 1932 to 1938, when the wars started there were quite a lot of hospitals already, but up to 1945 they became nearly empty, because the patients were not given proper care and quite often starved to death. However, during this period another type of mental hospitals appeared. They were sort of research centres, more than asylums, because the primary function was human experiments on various subjects – ranging from efficiency of medical procedures to biological weapons. I would like to point out, that this hospital was built exactly during that period."

"You think it could have been one of those hospitals?" Mai asked feeling positively sick. Who could treat living people like lab rats? What kind of doctor must one be? She desperately wanted to believe, that all of this is just speculation, but somehow found it hard to do so.

"It's very likely, though I don't want to make conclusions just yet. There is more." Yasuhara continued, seemingly feeling not much better than Mai. Every fibber in his body made him rebuke this information, but that made it no less true. The rest of the team looked at their cups in silence.

"Keep going." Oliver prompted. He already had his own theories and wanted to see if there may be some solid proof.

"Right. Well, in 1950 the confinement at home was forbidden, but people's attitude towards the patients changed very little. Mental illness was regarded as genetic, incurable, impossible to understand and dangerous, namely one of the worst diseases. As a result, the mentally ill were thought to be a disgrace to the family. Therefore most families were more than happy to drop their mentally ill in one of these hospitals and forget they ever existed. That made them very convenient lab rats, because there was little chance someone would bother to check up on them, even if the patients died. The Mental Hygiene Act provided no court procedure upon placement in a mental hospital, no communication, no visiting, no lawyer, no advocate, no hearing, no access to any report or document, and no notification of the reasons for detention. So basically you could stuff someone in one of these institutions on your word alone. That was another very convenient loophole. One more interesting fact is that The Japan Federation of BAR Associations had adopted a resolution on medical malpractice including psychiatric abuses in 1971 and started country wide inspections. That was the year hospital in question was closed."

"It wasn't just closed." Tsuyoshi interrupted, his voice deadly cold. "They burned the whole building down along with the patients and records. _And_ demolished it completely less than a year after. The question it poses to me, at least, is what the heck were they hiding, that was bad enough to destroy all traces of it upon first notice of possible inspection?"

"To make this picture clearer we can add in the witness statements. I spoke to one of the nurses and the doctor. The nurse told me that she worked in the children's ward when she was very young – around seventeen. She said that the patients spent their days in small rooms, mostly five or six in one room. Some rooms had cots, others didn't...and the children slept on the concrete floor with some blankets. Food was scarce and they sometimes went for days without a proper meal. The interesting thing, however, was the fact she mentioned unusual accidents. For example, dishes crashing into walls by themselves, blankets floating in thin air, even metal bars bending. She remembered one particular boy very clearly, his name was Inori and she said he was conceived in the hospital – his mother was a patient and, as much as she knew, she was impregnated to see if her 'condition' would transfer to the child. What she remembered best about the boy, was that he would often have very vivid dreams and wake up knowing things he has no possible way of knowing. Personal details of her life, the way her house looked like and so on. The doctor's statement was much the same. He worked there very shortly only as practice after med school and, according to his own words, left as soon as his practice period was over. He also described bad holding conditions, excessive violence used on the patients, and unusual medical procedures. They had, at the time, very little idea how to use psychiatric procedures, like electro shock therapy or ice bath treatments, so they basically experimented on the patients and it sometimes ended in serious injuries, burns, amputation of limbs or even death. He was just a resident, but even then noticed, that some of the procedures are unusual or unnecessary...and some of the patients are perfectly sane, just strange. He remembered one woman, who was older than him at the time, she had uncanny ability to help other patients heal. If you left a patient with her in a room overnight, he would have no injuries left in the morning. The poor old fellow said it was talking to this woman that made him leave. He understood she was not insane in any way, but could not help her, so he left. Tsu- Matsui-san spoke to the other two."

When Yasu was finally done he took his glasses off and pushed the folders as far away from himself as he could, as if trying to keep the horrible information away. Tsuyoshi didn't seem much better. He had better control over facial expressions, but it helped very little. Masako and Mai seemed like they are about to throw up and Monk was not far behind.

"I found a man who worked as a guard and another woman – a nurse. The guard remembered the place like a fucking prison, with high security walls, barred windows and so on. The patients apparently often tried to escape, but the guards were ordered to shoot any escapees on sight. He left the job after shooting one too many children. One more thing he mentioned was that they also had to bury the bodies of patients, but due to lack of time often just left them in the woods to decompose. The nurse, who refused to tell me her name, said she worked with adult patients and often had to assist in surgery...some of the surgeries were performed without anaesthesia. She remembered patients spending long hours and even days in complete darkness or bound to their cots. That would often result in cracked or broken windows, bent metal cots and even cracked walls. She believed the patients were abnormal...not in psychiatric sense. When I asked for examples she told me about a pair of twins. If one was hurt, no matter how far away, the other would start to scream and everything around them would float in the air and crash into walls. That was visual enough for me. Before I finish this horrid report, I would like to add something from personal knowledge."

"Go ahead." Naru said. He had a dead look on his face, but refused to exclude any valuable information.

"Most of the research facilities at the time were financed by the military. Tests performed in such institutions were often beyond inhumane and very illegal, however in the west human rights developed quicker, so it was hard to find ways to hide the illegal research. The forties and fifties were a time in Europe and America, when psychic powers became very popular and some tests were performed on the subject. However military also took interest in this subject and performed much more inquisitive tests, which were hard to hide in their original countries, so they moved to China, India and Japan."

"I'm aware of that, Matsui-san, but thank you for reminding me. It was exactly where I was inclined to go with my own theories. So far I believe it's safe to assume that this institution was a research facility and most likely took interest in psychic powers more than psychiatric illnesses. It performed illegal experiments on humans, which often ended in violent deaths. Considering the fact it was functioning for over thirty years, do you have any idea how many spirits we may be dealing with?"

"A couple of hundreds at the very least." Makoto spoke up, pinching the bridge of his nose "And these are not just spirits. If they were psychics in life, they may be more powerful in death."

"That would explain the ability of the spirits to astral project to the museum and still have enough power to hurt people." Oliver spoke half to himself, half to the team.

"So let me get this straight...There are about two hundred dead psychics in that forest. They were tortured, killed and left to rot without actual burial..." Monk got up and started nervously pacing by the outer wall "Do you have any idea how angry those spirits are? How can we possibly get rid of them all...It's madness!"

The entire team fell silent for a moment, trying to absorb both the information and the gravity of their situation. It was worse, than anything they have ever faced.

"Perhaps...we are looking at this the wrong way?" Masako spoke up quietly, half lost in thought.

"What do you mean, Hara-san?" Naru looked up from the files to find the medium staring straight at him.

"The message we found today, it was a plea for help. 'set us free' they said. So maybe they want to move on, but due to trauma are unable to do so. Your visions, were they purposefully violent? Did the twins intend to hurt you?"

"Intended...no. They simply showed me their experiences in that hospital, it was meant to make me understand, not harm me, I believe. Hara-san, when you were possessed by the young woman in the museum did you feel any ill intent?"

"She was scared and lonely, but I never felt threatened. I believe she just felt a connection between us and came to me expecting to find help. I can still feel that connection." Masako said clutching her chest as if there was a direct line, connecting her to the other medium.

"Mai, how about you?" Oliver asked directing his gaze to the petite brunette. He could still see burns on her temples.

"The little boy...I don't think he _wanted_ to hurt me...I stopped him in his tracks and he seemed to see and understand me...I think he might have tried to show me what they did to him in that building."

"So you think all these outbursts might be attempts to find help?" John clarified tentatively.

"I believe so." Masako answered instantly with surprising resolve. "Naru, I want to try and contact the girl, who possessed me before. Maybe we could get them to cooperate?"

"It may be dangerous." Oliver countered, on rare occasion trying to protect his teammate.

"Perhaps, but I still want to try." She countered with a stubborn glint in her eyes.

"Alright. But we do this at daytime tomorrow. Tonight let's rest. And Mai, call in all forces - both Matsuzaki-san and Kamishiro-sensei. We'll need all the help we can get."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well this chapter came out long, but I felt the extensive information on psychiatric care was a must. It's all true, by the way. Not the specific case, but all the dates and legal documents actually exist. Mentally ill patients only received full human rights (in Japan) in 1981 or 1982.
> 
> In the next two or three chapters I intend to finish this case, so more planning, adventures and exorcisms are coming. Till next time!


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello there, my dear readers. Here comes the next chapter! However this story is not only supernatural, it's also a romance and I might have forgotten that in the last couple of chapters, so a bit of this one will be allocated to developing relationships ^.^ Don't worry, you get to see the séance , I promise!
> 
> Also, there is a Lime-y scene, so if it might bother you, be sure to skip the first part of this chapter :)

Despite the relative safety the temple grounds provided, nearly all team members found it hard to sleep that night. They were divided into rooms by two or three, except Naru – he had his own room. So Mai slept with Masako, Lin, John and Hoshou shared another room, and Yasu was paired up with Matsui-san.

After calling the two women, who could be of use, and arranging them to come tomorrow, dinner was served in silence. Everyone grudgingly crawled to their own rooms without further ado - no one seemed inclined to talk.

Mai felt uncomfortable leaving Oliver alone after the vision he had that afternoon. He acted normally, just with a little less edge – no cutting remarks, no droll stares to make someone feel like an idiot, for Mai that was concerning. It was his outer armour – the sass, the infuriating superiority complex – and after the vision he seemed subdued. Even after she lay down to sleep with Masako, the uneasy feeling didn't go away. Passing nearly an hour silently stewing Mai decided she can't do it anymore, got up and strode to his room in her pyjamas. Quietly sliding the shoji aside enough to poke her head in she whispered:

"Naru, are you asleep?"

"No." Came an instant reply. He was clearly far from sleeping.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Mai." Toneless. For a second Mai started to wonder why she bothered, but before the girl could slide door back in place he spoke again "Stay?"

What? _'Did he just ask me to stay in his room overnight? Well, that's new...'_

"W-with you?" she stammered out barely audibly.

"Do you see anyone else?"

"You jerk..." Mai sighed dismissively and stepped into the room. They _have_ slept together before... even if it was out of necessity.

"Move over, I'm cold." She whispered and the form under the covers shuffled a little to give her some space, but he never turned around to face her. Tentatively the brunette slid under the blankets and cuddled up to the warm back of her boyfriend. He simply sighed in relief. Pressing closer she could feel his back rise and fall with every breath, slow and measured. They have been together for four months now. They kissed and touched each other...well mostly Oliver touching Mai, but despite teenage hormones he seemed to be in no hurry to push it further. It suited Mai just fine, though sometimes she did want...more.

For long moments they just lay there in silence, sharing the warmth. Even if this was just simple closeness, it did wonders to Mai's uneasy, jittery nerves...and it seemed the same effect extended to Oliver. In a moment he spoke up quietly:

"Mai, I want you to help me with an experiment."

"What...now?" she asked incredulous.

"If you don't mind." That was odd. Maybe it had something to do with the vision? Of course she couldn't say no.

"O-okay. What is this about?"

"Remember I told you my psychometry will hardly be affected by the peak in energy?"

"Yes...it's not true, is it?" she already knew that much. He didn't intend to use psychometry on that cot, it just happened spontaneously.

"Apparently not. Not only it slipped my control, but I have a theory, that my ability might have expanded...to living objects as well. I woke up from my vision not because I heard the words on tape directly. I felt them through you. You were holding my hand and your desire to help them was what woke me up." Naru explained quietly. This was completely new territory, even for him. The young professor knew if it proves correct, his life may become difficult.

"So you could feel my thoughts?" She said slightly panicked. That would be bad, really, really bad.

"More like your emotions. That's why I want to understand the extent of this ability."

"Okay...so what do I do?" she asked tentatively.

"I want you to concentrate on a thought or a memory and touch my skin while thinking about it." It was all so clinical, but for Mai the idea of touching his naked skin had very little to do with research...

"W-where should I t-touch you?" she squeezed out blushing bright red in the dark. Thank gods he couldn't see. After a little shuffling he finally answered:

"Anywhere should be fine – my arm, neck, or waist. Wherever is comfortable. But don't forget to concentrate on a thought." Only then Mai realised the shuffling was meant to undo the buttons in his pyjamas and leave his torso bare to her touch. That thought alone made blood pound in the ears. ' _Where should I touch?_ ' she thought frantically, tempted to spread her palm over his belly...or his chest. They hadn't exactly got this far yet, so it was all too tempting...and distracting. With effort she concentrated on a memory, that had very little to do with sex. It was a childhood memory of her and her mother on the beach. When feeling ready Mai gently placed her hand palm down over his abdomen and instantly felt the muscles there clench.

"Seagulls." He said after a moment of silence "I can see the beach, strong wind...sun on my back. Someone is holding my hand and pointing at colourful kites in the sky..."

Mai listened for a while, but the feel of his skin, so warm and soft under her fingertips, made it hard to concentrate. Without her even noticing Mai's thoughts slowly filled with visions of her hands sliding up to caress his chest and feel more of that silky skin covering hard planes and hollows of his body. What would his skin...taste like?

Naru let out a shuddering breath and snapped her out of the wild musings. "Mai...I said one memory." The tiny girl froze in place too terrified to move a muscle. ' _H_ e _saw that too? How could I be such an idiot! Mai, you have no filter, damn it_!' Suddenly she could acutely feel the blood pulse in her palms and his breath come out quick and rather laboured. ' _Did he...like it?'_ she wondered for a second and decided to test it. Mai slid her hand further up his torso accidentally brushing a hard nipple on her way. His breath hitched. It felt surprisingly good for the tiny girl to have her usually restrained boyfriend react so openly to every touch. Biting her lip for courage she pushed her hand even further, until it met sensitive barrier of his collarbones. Her fingers traced the elegant curves and couldn't help but imagine doing the same with her lips, maybe even her tongue... A small strangled sound escaped Oliver before he managed to speak up.

"You have a surprisingly dirty mind..." he whispered breathily, still trying to regain control and failing miserably. Her small hands were making it incredibly hard to concentrate...and with the addition of direct feed into her fantasies...well, let's just say his pyjama pants were quickly becoming uncomfortable.

"Is that...bad?" the brunette whispered, wavering. He might just scold her and tell her to go to bed...

"Not...not exactly..." Oliver didn't know whether he should tell her off, like she expected...or plead her to continue. The logical part of his brain demanded to stop this before it got out of hand...but the other part just kept replaying her delightful touches in his head over and over.

Mai was a little confused...he didn't tell her to stop, so was it okay to keep going? Here lay the man she loved for almost two years, half naked and unusually responsive...the thought alone made her body heat up instantly. It was such a rare chance to...to...well, do what normal teenagers do – explore. Swallowing thickly she stammered out the one thing on her mind.

"D-do you want me t-to...stop?"

"No..." Oliver forced out. It was the truth after all, he didn't want her to stop anytime soon...

Feeling the rush of adrenaline fill her veins Mai shuffled a little higher and latched her lips upon the back of his neck. Naru gasped and twitched instantly, which gave her more courage. He loved to kiss her neck...so now she decided to indulge in returning the favour. Her soft lips slowly lavished the back of his neck, then the side, where she could feel blood pumping rapidly. Surprisingly, the stubborn scientist just craned his neck to give her more space to explore. Mai's small palms kept trailing up and down his torso, feeling out the dips, rippling muscles and tiny, hard nipples with slow, albeit inexperienced care. She had no idea what she was doing, and neither did he...

When brunettes soft lips reached his earlobe and she suckled on it experimentally Oliver whined quietly and arched against his own will. The sudden movement forced Mai's hand on his belly lower...until it pressed against the tent in his pyjama pants.

Both teenagers froze. Mai thought she might spontaneously combust and Oliver stopped breathing altogether. Quickly he grabbed her hand and lifted it up to his lips. Kissing her soft palm he released the pent up breath.

"Maybe we should stop...before this got out of hand." the black haired teenager spoke up, still holding her hand hostage.

"Did I do something wrong?" Mai asked, just to be sure.

"No, idiot...Just, it's not the time. Not like this. I kissed you for the first time in the middle of a case and I don't want to...be so intimate in somebody else's home, again, on a case." He explained without slightest trace of annoyance. Mai sagged in relief behind him. "We have an exhausting day awaiting us tomorrow, so we better rest."

"O-okay. Do you want me to go?" She hoped not, but still steeled herself, just in case.

"Not really...I...sleep better with you near. Unless you want to go, of course?" He asked turning to face her for the first time that night.

"N-no, I want to stay...' Mai mumbled, smiling from ear to ear.

"Then I'll set the alarm for five in the morning, you can go back to your room then, no one will notice."

"Okay!" she nodded happily cuddling up to his side. It felt good to know he liked the closeness as much as she did. "Um...good night?"

"Good night, Mai." Naru whispered gently, kissed her forehead and tried to fall asleep.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Masako felt Mai leave the room and stayed very still for a few more minutes, but the other girl didn't come back. Relieved she crawled out of the futon and opened the shoji that led to the outer corridor with large glass panels. Just a few paces from her room she sat down and directed her gaze towards the forest. Even if spirits could not enter the temple grounds, she could feel the other medium on the opposite side of the barrier, waiting for her. There was no way she would fall asleep tonight. At least with Mai gone, she didn't have to lie in bed and pretend.

The moon was beautiful, large and bright in the dark winter sky. Masako was so transfixed by it, she didn't even notice when someone came to stand behind her.

"Do you have problems sleeping, Hara-san?" a quiet, low voice asked out of the blue. Her heart nearly jumped out of her throat. Turning around she saw the youngest Sawamura standing behind her in his sleeping yukata.

"You frightened me, Sawamura-san." She squeezed out half accusingly.

"I'm sorry. It was not my intention. And Sawamura-san is my father, I would much rather you call me by my given name. Less confusion." He said matter of factly, looking up at the moon.

"What are you doing here, Makoto-san?" Masako asked, taking his demand in stride and bristling a little for having her personal moment invaded.

"I have a habit of walking around the house before going to sleep. A sort of ritual. Why can't you fall asleep?" he asked equally ignoring proper manners.

"I can still feel the spirits outside the protective barrier. One of them I have met before, so her presence is making it hard to relax." The young medium answered honestly. For some reason it was surprisingly easy to abandon propriety in his presence. Perhaps because the man himself had very little interest in social manners?

"You know, when I was little, the stronger spirits of the forest would sometimes find a way to sneak over the barriers, give me nightmares or even hurt me. I think they were afraid I might grow up to hurt them...That's how I got this scar. One of the demons scratched me. Back then sleeping was a bit of a problem. The only place I could sleep undisturbed even by the most powerful spirits was the Hall of the Sacred fire. Nothing can get in there." Masako turned around, surprised by the tale, and found him staring into the woods with a far off look in his eyes. They seemed almost jewel like in the moonlight. Suddenly he looked straight at her and she felt unable to move. "Perhaps you would like to try and get some rest there? The Sacred fire is always burning and the room is warm enough. I'll accompany you if you'd like. Some meditation would do me good."

Trying to break out of the strange trance Masako blinked a few times. The whole situation felt surreal, like a dream. She just nodded numbly. "I'd...like to try. But is it truly alright for me to go there?"

"It's fine. No one goes to the hall, except to feed the fire. Shall we?" He asked reaching his hand out to help her up. She took it without thinking and felt herself hauled to her feet with incredible force. Then one more thing popped into her mind. "One moment." Masako said before disappearing into her room just to come back with his scarf in hand. She had forgotten to give it back.

"Here. I forgot to return it." The tiny girl said reaching her hands out to give it back, but the young master just shook his head.

"Keep it. You might need it when we go back tomorrow morning."

Nodding Masako instinctively pressed the thick material back to her chest. He chose that moment to step past her and retrieve a thick blanket form the closet in her room. In silence they crossed the eerily quiet temple grounds and reached a rather large building with smoke coming out of the chimney. He stepped in and closed the door behind her.

The moment large wooden door slammed shut...there was nothing. Masako could not believe it for a second. For weeks now she could not find peace anywhere – energy of various spirits would pull and poke her, even with her barriers fully raised. But this place...it was completely clean...empty...peaceful. Standing there she could almost forget for a short moment what it feels like to be a medium.

"I take it you like it here?" He asked, smiling crookedly. It was the first time she ever saw Makoto smile...and couldn't help, but smile back.

"Yes." Masako confirmed, still looking around in awe "It's so peaceful."

"It is. It's one of my favourite places. Unfortunately it was not meant for sleeping, so there are no beds. You're going to have to make do with the blanket." Without waiting for reply he proceeded to spread the thick material out on the wooden floor beside a large bonfire-like structure. Masako spellbound watched his broad shoulders move under the dark blue yukata. Large, calloused hands straightened and folded the material with surprising and completely unintended grace. She could not, for the life of her, understand why someone would _not_ want this man. Catching herself in the act of ogling her host Masako instantly blushed and directed her eyes to the floor. It was safer this way.

"Hara-san, do you intend to stand there all night?" he asked looking back over his shoulder and sitting down in front of the fire cross legged.

"Masako." She mumbled on pure instinct.

"Sorry?"

"You...may call me Masako...if you like." She forced out slowly, internally berating herself for foot in the mouth moment. He seemed a little unsure how to react for a second, but the straight forward nature took over quickly.

"Alright, Masako-san, will you stand there all night?"

"O-of course not!" she lifted her head high and purposefully strode up to the blanket. Half out of embarrassment, half out of indignant anger she laid down on her side, facing away from the man beside her. After a few moments of silence he spoke up again.

"The spirit that bothers you is the one you will be contacting in the morning?"

"Yes." She answered curtly but after a moment added "You think it's a bad idea."

"No, I don't. Not all of those spirits are bad - some are both good and wise. One of them taught me how to speak to the old gods of the forest. If not for her...they might have killed me before I ever had the chance to grow up."

That came as a surprise and the medium couldn't help but ask "Is she still there?"

"Yes. I see Ayame from time to time, but she never comes close anymore, just bows to me from further away. I don't know why. I sometimes see her familiar – a white fox spirit, by the barrier." Though Masako couldn't see him, the sadness in his voice was plain as day.

"Perhaps you could try to speak to her, like I will with the girl spirit? Maybe she would also be willing to help us somehow?" Masako wondered out loud. It could be useful to find as many allies as possible.

"Perhaps. I'm not sure she would come, but I can try."

"Then shall we do that and see what happens?" she asked turning around to face him, all anger gone without a trace.

"Alright." He agreed with a small, gentle smile. After that only the quiet shuffling of his beads and cracking fire broke the silence. Masako slowly drifted to sleep watching flames dance upon the face of Sawamura family heir.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Morning came bright and early for the SPR team due to minor panic at five in the morning, when Mai sneaked back into her room to find it completely empty. Only after the entire team, and soon the family, got up to search for Masako did they notice Sawamura's son is also missing. It didn't frighten the family as much as it could – apparently it was a common occurrence. Sawamura Yuuko simply dressed warmly and strode out to a building, holding eternally burning Sacred fire. Inside she predictably found her son snoozing cross legged in front of the flames...but beside him, on an old blanket, Hara Masako was sleeping peacefully curled up into a ball. She squeezed something uncannily similar to her son's scarf to her chest. Yuuko decided not to risk losing this budding relationship to teasing, and woke the tiny girl up before her entire team could see. It didn't stop the teasing altogether, but by the end of breakfast tense and sombre mood was back. Everyone was worried about the coming séance, even Oliver barely ate choosing to keep his nose in his black notebook.

By nine o'clock they were already on the pathway, this time with strict orders from both Makoto and Oliver to keep close to each other and _not to touch anything_. Few snowflakes fallen overnight barely covered their previous footsteps. Slowly and with great effort they made their way up to the sight of the former hospital. Small, flat area greeted them with scattered pieces of bricks, metal fences and even some leftover equipment pieces. Surprisingly there was no fog. It surrounded the entire area, but the ruins themselves were sharp and clear, bathed in early morning sun. Monk, Yasuhara and Matsui-san dared to come a little closer to the ruins themselves. There was barely anything left of the walls, but inside the perimeter of outer wall one could still see leftovers of stairs and doorways, leading to the basements below.

Masako could barely breathe. There were so many souls around there – angry, sad, lonely, lost...It was almost physically painful. Doing her best to concentrate on that one presence further in the woods, she stood very still.

"Hara-san, are you ready?" Naru asked from a few feet away. He knew she will need personal space, but refused to move the team much further away.

"I am." She replied with unwavering resolve.

"Alright. Lin, John, turn on the camera and sound recording. Takigawa, stay close, just in case."

"Got it. I'm ready." The monk answered instantly stepping closer to the tiny medium.

"Shibuya-san." Makoto spoke up before the ritual started "If this is successful...and even if it's not... I will also try to contact one familiar spirit. Maybe she will provide us with some assistance."

Naru just nodded in reply. They should try every option available. "Begin." he said in a second.

Masako closed her eyes for a second and tried to pull on the link in her chest, conneting her to the other girl.

"Please" she said quietly "Come closer, my sister by heart. Don't be afraid. We are here to help you all. Talk to me. Talk through me, but do not harm this body, as it is not yours. Come. " In a second her body slid down to the ground quietly and when the black haired girl lifted her gaze back up they knew it was not her anymore.

"Can you hear me?" Naru asked in a level voice.

"Yes." Came the quiet, subdued reply.

"What is your name?"

"Kaiyo."

"Kaiyo, do you know you are dead?" he proceeded with the standard questions for starters.

"Yes, they left me to drown in the ice bath. The water was so cold..." Masako's body started to tremble slightly.

"I'm sorry. Why are you still here?"

"They need help, the other people." Kaiyo answered barely audibly "We cannot leave them here..."

"We? Who's we?" Oliver asked curious. It was clear there are more than one fully aware spirit in this location, but how many could there be?

"Those, who still remember. Most have already forgotten why we were here...what happened to us..."

"How many still remember, Kaiyo?" The young professor asked with a good dash of sympathy. He knew spirits usually let go off certain memories overtime.

"I don't know...Inori, Ayame...Manabu...and Ryu with Ame...maybe a few others. "

"Kaiyo, we are here to try and help you move on. All of you. But we will need help. Do you want to leave this place?" Oliver asked and Masako's head shot up instantly. She looked up at him with unveiled hope.

"Please. It's been so long... we are tired and some have gone mad with sadness and fear... Help them, help us!" she pleaded with tears slowly trickling down Masako's face.

"We will do our best." Oliver promised. He tried not to show it but the pain he felt from the twins yesterday was still raw in his memory. It made him feel almost like one of the unfortunate souls. "But we might need help. If we to do a purification ritual here, would the spirits come to us?"

"Most would...but some are too lost, they might not find their way to you. The children have almost forgotten what the light looks like...they need someone to guide them."

"Could you lead them, Kaiyo? "

"I...I could try...but there are so many of us now, some have been here so long...I can't do it alone, I'm sorry..." the girl squeezed her hands together and started to unconsciously scratch her wrists. They were turning slightly red. Seeing the psychosomatic reaction Noll instantly tried to drag her attention back to himself.

"What if you didn't do it alone? Ask your friends, the ones, who are still sane, to help you. Maybe all of you could do it?" He certainly hoped that would be the case. Though they might need several rituals to release that many spirits.

"Maybe..." she trailed off before lifting her head up "I will try." The dead medium said and left Masako's body so quickly the tiny girl fell into the snow barely conscious.

Preoccupied with Masako's condition no one noticed the strange absence of Mai. The well known trouble magnet could be seen by the outer wall of the former building, looking over the remaining part of the wall down to the basement area. When Yasuhara turned to see where the little brunette was, he saw her by the ruins, apparently looking for something.

"Mai?" he asked quietly to himself before standing up to walk towards her. "Mai-chan, what are you doing there?" He shouted much louder and thankfully got the girl's attention. She turned around, still standing on the wall and opened her mouth to answer, but only a scream came out, when several pairs of small ghostly hands tried to grab her waist. Osamu ran the last meters towards her as fast as his legs would carry him and somehow managed to grab her hands before she tumbled down. He spun her out to the side to get her away from the possible three meter fall, but didn't count the force right. Sheer force of the spin threw Mai out onto the snow...and left Yasu to face the hard concrete floor of the basement.

The last thing he remembered was how bright blue the sky was, before it all became dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's all you get for now, folks! Next chapter you'll find out how's Yasuhara doing and the team will decide how to go about the exorcisms, so see you next chapter! ^.^


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are - another chapter! A great big Thank You to all who took the time to read this story up until now ^.^ I'm very grateful for your interest in my little hallucinations :D Alas, this case is coming to an end, as much as I enjoyed it, so this chapter is nearly the last one. Have fun reading ^.~

It all happened so fast the team barely had time to react. Monk and Matsui-san were the first to run towards the ruins, Oliver on their heels. Lin stayed put, despite his worry. He still had Masako to take care of.

"What happened?" Naru demanded falling to his knees beside Mai and shaking the tiny girl by the shoulders.

"I...heard crying...children were crying in there, so I..." tears spilled down from terrified caramel brown eyes as she sat in the snow, looking at her boyfriend.

"Idiot! Takigawa, Matsui, how is he?" the boss yelled to the two men, who went straight for the ruins.

"We can't get to him!" Monk yelled back "The stairway is broken!"

Leaving Mai in the snow the young boss stumbled to look over the wall. At the bottom of a concrete hallway, over three meters down lay an unconscious Yasuhara Osamu with blood smear around his head. To make the situation worse, small purple will-o-wisps were floating around his body.

Out of nowhere a bright white blur sped past Oliver's head and jumped down to cover Osamu's body. Only when it stood still did they realize it was a large snow white fox with seven tails spreading out behind it. Blood red eyes glowed when the spirit growled. Every member of SPR froze in place. This was bad.

Surprisingly the fox growled again and started to bite at the purple flames, soon frightening them away. When Monk lifted his hands to form the "Seal of the Immovable One" Sawamura Makoto stopped him:

"Don't! It's Ayame's familiar, it's protecting him!" Not fully understanding what's going on Monk lowered his hands hesitantly.

"Nothing's going to protect him if he bleeds out on the floor." Tsuyoshi almost growled with a strange glint in his eyes. The silver haired man took a couple of steps back before running down in full speed and jumping over the chasm in the half broken stairs. Pain split his leg the moment he landed, but at least he was on the ground. Now the only problem was to get the... _thing_...to move away. When he tried to come closer the creature growled at him threateningly.

"Move aside!" Monk yelled behind him "I will try to exorcise it!"

Ignoring the other man Tsuyoshi took another step closer and reached his hands out, palms up, as if trying to tame a distrustful dog. "If you are protecting him" he said loudly to the spirit "Let me pass, he is mine."

The white fox craned its neck and sniffed one of the man's hands then bowed slightly and did the same to Yasuhara's neck. Without another second of hesitation it jumped up, out of the ruins and ran away towards the forest. Makoto dashed after it without a word. Though John and Oliver both looked startled by the strange decision they stayed put. Getting Yasuhara out of there was first priority.

Matsui was by the young man's side in a second, first checking his vitals, then vertebrae in the neck, just to be sure it's safe to move him. It all seemed in place, but his head and possibly leg might have sustained serious damage.

"Someone run to the house and call an ambulance. Keep them down the mountain, just in case." Tsuyoshi ordered, falling back to military mode "Find something to use as a rope. Scarf, belts...something."

The clear orders left no room for doubt so John sped down the mountain as fast as he could and Masako ran up to them with Lin to offer Makoto's long scarf as a rope. In less than five minutes Yasuhara was out of the pit and in Lin's arms. He ran down the mountain without looking back.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

When Sawamura Makoto slowly dragged himself down the mountain the sun was already turning red. He followed the spirit so far into the woods it was not easy to find his way back. Weary and clod he quietly dropped his half wet shoes and coat at the entrance and walked straight to the room ghost hunters seemed to call 'base'. Even halfway down the hall he could hear screeching. Upon opening the door it only got louder – a furious red haired woman was screaming at the boss.

"What do you mean 'We'll just have to do it'? Are you completely insane? Two hundred spirits...maybe more?!" she ranted pacing in front of the long table. Nobody had noticed him coming in yet, so the weary young man just leaned against the wall and resigned to hear the quarrel out to the end.

"I just arrived here an hour ago! Climbed maybe two miles of HUGE, SLIPPERY, SONE steps in HIGH HEELS and now you want me to exorcize couple hundreds of spirits? TOMOROW! " finally she seemed to get out of breath and just stood in front of the calm manager with her hands on her hips.

"Well, you didn't have to take the stairs, we parked just beside the temple..." he started and got interrupted instantly.

"Why nobody told me that!?"

"We had bigger problems at the moment. Yasuhara-san was on his way to the hospital and most of us followed him there." The black haired young man tried to keep patient, but to Makoto it seemed like his last straw might be not far away, so he chose that moment to speak up:

"How is your colleague, Shibuya-san?"

Instantly the red haired woman turned around to face him and stumbled a couple of steps back. Apparently he might have startled her. The boss, however, seemed almost glad to see him "He had a serious concussion and cracked the bones in his left shin, the rest are minor bruises and scratches due to the fall. He was very lucky. " Makoto nodded in relief. At least the fellow is not mortally wounded. Only then he fully noticed the changes in the team. Obviously the white haired man – Matsui-san – was gone, probably keeping vigil over his friend. The long haired monk was also not there, but instead the team gained two women – the loud redhead and another lady with long black hair. She sat quietly beside the tall man, Lin.

"Sawamura-san?" the manager asked and broke him out of his musings "You ran away into the forest ...did something happen?"

"Well something surely happened, but there is no need to worry, it's not bad." He answered and slowly sat down by the table. Soon a cup of warm tea was pushed in front of his nose. Looking up he saw large grey eyes of Hara Masako.

"Thank you." The young exorcist mumbled before gripping the warm cup. Warmth was something he sorely needed right now.

"Is it of any importance to this case?" Naru asked bluntly.

"So to speak. I told you I wanted to contact a certain spirit I knew and I ran into the forest to do just that. The white fox you saw is a minor god, her familiar, so I knew it will lead me to her. Ayame is one of the spirits of the forest, she must have been a powerful spiritualist in life – to get a god to willingly serve you is no minor feat. That's why I wanted to ask her for help, like Masako-san did with the medium girl, Kaiyo." Makoto explained, luxuriating in the warmth of the house. His feet were finally becoming less numb.

"Did it work? She agreed to help us?" Mai asked hopeful for some extra help...otherwise the situation seemed a bit dreary.

"She did. Apparently the fully aware spirits sometimes communicate amongst each other and she said she will ask all those sane enough to work as guides and lead the lost spirits to our ritual, so they could be purified. But, just like Kaiyo, that's all she can do."

"If we need guides, my spirits could also lead the ones unable to find their way. I could call up my entire bloodline, that's a lot of spirits." Yukiko interrupted for the first time.

"That's not enough!" Ayako spoke up instantly. "The trees here are old and strong, so the ritual will work...but there's too many spirits. I can't possibly send them all over by myself!"

"What technique do you use, lady?" Makoto asked bluntly.

"It's Matsuzaki Ayako and I'm a Shrine maiden, so Norito, obviously. Why?"

"What ritual do you use?"

"What do you care, boy?" She seemed annoyed beyond belief.

"This is a Shinto temple, miss Matsuzaki and I am the chief exorcist. If you tell me what ritual you intend to use I might find a way to strengthen it or at least assist you in some way."

The redhead stared for a few moments with clear doubt written all over her face, but still answered:

"I use a variation of the classical cleansing ritual but instead of my own energy I harness the power of elder spirits in trees to give strength to my ritual. Can you come up with something better?" She asked with a smug smile.

"Perhaps not..." Makoto answered thoughtfully "But I could come up with something complimentary. I'm familiar with the common version of the ritual. If you use spirits of the trees, perhaps I could find a way to adapt your ritual for myself, but instead of spirits of the trees I may be able to use the power of the old gods of the forest. They are nature spirits after all."

"Are you kidding, boy?! That kind of thing takes time and..."

"And practice. But we have nether at the moment. Still, the whole night is before us, so I might as well try. Shibuya-san, do you perhaps have a different plan?" the young exorcist inquired, just to be sure he is not intruding.

"I simply intended to repeat the ritual with Matsuzaki-san and Takigawa-san in several different locations of the mountain. Her ritual uses trees from around half a mile in range and nearly the entire mountain is covered in old trees, so it should have worked. It would have taken two maybe three times, however, and your offer is very intriguing. Are you sure you can do this by tomorrow morning?" Naru said not too happily. He could use Matsuzaki with Monk as backup, but his exorcisms are slightly weaker, so they would be stuck here for two more days...at the very least, and the museum opens tomorrow – their time limit is up.

"I can try and hopefully succeed. If it doesn't work, you can always go through with your original plan for several exorcisms. There are few scrolls in the library I need to take a look at. Matsuzaki-san, write down your ritual for me. Not just the words, but any differences in sequence of movement. I'll pick it up later, on my way to the Fire hall. For now, I'd better go and warn my parents I'm alive, before they start the searches." He said the last sentence smiling fondly. Despite the differences in perspective, the young man still seemed to love his parents.

"Fine." Ayako grumbled and snatched a pad and pen from a little startled Lin. He seemed to want to object, but Yukiko just squeezed his arm and shook her head no. It was not worth it.

"If you need anything else, please inform us, Sawamura-san." Oliver added when the young man turned towards the door. He received a firm nod in reply and the young exorcist opened shoji door to leave, but stopped in between.

"Masako-san, if you intend to come to sleep, do bring some tea." He added matter of factly and turned away leaving the team a little stunned...and Masako hiding her scarlet face behind a sleeve.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Down in the valley hospital lights were gleaming throughout the night - it was one of the institutions that worked day and night with equal chaos in their walls. In one of the small private rooms two men sat silently watching the third. The plastic chairs were uncomfortable and the insistent beeping of the machines was enough to drive anyone mad, but the two observers were too worried to pay attention.

"Matsui." Monk said quietly after a long silence and the silver haired man barely lifted his head in acknowledgement "What happened there? That spirit just let you come closer to him after it sniffed you two and you said 'He is mine'. What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Not now." The other man answered clearly unwilling to allocate even the smallest amount of attention to someone other, than the young man lying in bed unconscious. Poor Yasu was almost as white as the sheets and showed no signs of waking up. The doctors told them all he will be fine, there is no threat to his life, that's why the rest of the team left, albeit reluctantly. However Tsuyoshi couldn't help but feel both concerned and angry at the same time. Osamu had a bad habit of rescuing other people in the expense of his own health – last time he nearly had a large stone thrown at his head while protecting Monk. Now he saved Mai and ended up three meters down on a concrete floor. What will come next? Tsuyoshi Matsui was terrified to even think about it. It's been only four months since they have timidly started their relationship and now he couldn't imagine his life without the sweet, bright and wickedly cunning young man. It took every fiber of self control left in the man's body _not_ to take his young lover's hand. _Not_ to brush that stray strand of raven hair away from his eyes. It was torture, but they have kept their relationship quiet up until now...and Matsui was sure Osamu wouldn't want his friends to find out this way. Or, perhaps, at all. The last thought hurt, but he still had to consider it, so Monk's prodding was more than unwelcome.

"Yes, now." Hoshou wouldn't let up "What's going on between you two? He drags you around wherever he goes, feels awfully comfortable around you lately...and now smells like you? I honestly hope you haven't done something to our young man!" the rocker's voice started to rise towards the end of his little speech and Matsui lost his patience.

"Stop yelling by a sickbed. Out." The white haired man ordered in a clipped tone rising from his seat and striding through the door without a backward glance. The other man will follow, he knew.

Luckily the corridor was empty and both men stood facing each other in silence for a second.

"Well, what is it you wanted to say? But keep your voice down, this is a hospital." Tsuyoshi spat out in a carefully controlled whisper.

"Yasuhara-kun is part of our team and we protect our own, so I honestly hope you don't have any schemes on him. He's a good kid...don't you dare ruin him, you hear me?" Monk whispered equally angrily. The rocker was seething. He remembered all too clearly how this strange man nearly kissed their boy on the first day they met and frightened him to death. Takigawa felt almost fatherly protectiveness for the young man as well as Mai, so, as much as he generally liked Matsui, he'll murder him if the man tries anything on Yasu.

"Are you implying I would do something against his will, Takigawa?" The dark eyes, usually sparkling with laughter, had turned deadly cold and reminded Hoshou he is standing in front of a battle scarred soldier, who knows all too well how to harm someone. That gave Monk a small pause, but he was too riled up to stop.

"You had nearly kissed him on the first day you've met! What guarantee there is you won't push it further next time?"

"Imbecile. I have never, and will never, do anything against Yasuhara-kun's will. Get that through that thick skull of yours. I also refuse to argue about something like that when he's still unconscious in the next room. If you want to know what it is between us, ask him when he wakes up...because it's obvious you wouldn't believe anything I say anyway." Without even waiting for an answer Matsui turned around and walked back towards the door, leaving a little stunned Monk behind. He thought this was just the older man hitting on their boy...but somehow it seemed far more serious than that, so he decided to keep his mouth shut for the time being. Sighing, the rocker scratched the back of his head and turned towards the vending machines. He needed coffee.

"Matsui..." Hoshou spoke up and the other man turned towards him with his hand already on the door handle "You want coffee?" he asked carefully, setting up truce for a while.

"Yeah. Next time I'm paying." The white haired man answered with weary eyes and walked back into the room.

When Monk finally came back with two cups of coffee something was wrong. Osamu was squirming in his bed and mumbling something while Tsuyoshi stood beside him speaking quietly.

"...shi...Tsu...yoshi..." Osamu whispered barely audibly, still unable to open his eyes.

"It's alright, I'm here... you're safe. Breathe and try to open your eyes..." Matsui spoke quietly and soothingly, tracking for any signs of relapse.

"Young man, can you hear us?" Monk came up closer, leaving the coffee forgotten on a bedside table. The university student paid him no attention.

"Osamu...shhhh, your okay...take your time and come back to us." Tsuyoshi tried again, this time hesitantly taking the boy's hand. The grey eyes opened slowly and drowsily.

"Tsuyoshi-san...where am I...?" he asked coherently enough, though his eyes still seemed a little unfocused.

"The hospital. You fell down the basement. Do you remember?"

"Uhn...yeah, Mai...they were dragging Mai..." he tried to put his thoughts in some resemblance of order, but it was still foggy.

"Young man, does anything hurt?" Monk piped in.

"My head..." he answered, turning slightly towards his other visitor.

"Soon it won't only be your head, idiot..." Matsui scolded half heartedly, but didn't dare to say much else. The fact Yasuhara woke up so soon was good enough for now.

"You're angry." Yasu said quietly, turning back towards the worried face of his lover.

"It can wait." The white haired man relented with a sigh and a weary smile "Now rest."

The door opened quietly and a small dark haired nurse stepped in. She must have noticed different data on the monitors.

"I'm glad to see you're awake, sweetheart. I'm Hana, I'll be around for most of the time." She checked the gadgets and wrote down some of the parameters, nodding approvingly. "All seems well. Do you need any more pain medication?"

"No, thank you, I'm good...for now." Yasu answered, trying to smile towards the young woman. It took effort.

"Right. Oh, one more thing, in case of decisions to be made when you might be unconscious, who should we consult?" she asked innocently, looking up from the document. Yasuhara paused a moment, then answered without doubt.

"My boyfriend."

"And which one is that, sweetheart?" The nurse asked without skipping a beat. Osamu just looked towards his left to meet stunned chocolate brown eyes.

"That would be me, miss. Matsui Tsuyoshi." The man answered, a little shocked by Osamu's openness. When the first wave of disbelief passed Tsuyoshi could feel warmth spreading in his chest and took Osamu's hand – without hesitation this time. Monk, on the other hand was left to stand there bright red and a little shell shocked...but couldn't exactly do anything about it.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Back at the base Naru was concocting a plan. They had few chances to do it in one go, even with joined exorcism. He had never seen Sawamura in action, so the young exorcist will be an unknown factor. Scribbling down the schematics and order of action in his black notebook the young boss could already feel a headache coming on.

"Mai, tea." he said without thinking or lifting his head up. The phrase was so common now, but he knew it will bring him instant relief.

"Sure, sure." she answered a little annoyed, but not as much as she used to be. It was a pity in Oliver's opinion. Riling her up to see her flushed face used to be fun...then again, now he can make her face lovely shade of red through other means. Trying to stay on track and not get lost in the memories of Mai's burning face, gentle hands and soft lips, he spoke up:

"Tomorrow we will start early - before nine I want all of you to be ready. First, Hara-san, you will contact the spirit of Kaiyo and ask her how much help we can expect and also tell her to get ready. Then Kamishiro-sensei, I will ask you to call up some of your spirits for help, depending on how much aid we may need. Lin, keep your Shiki on call, just in case. Also I'll want you to film the exorcism ritual. If this new form of Norito succeeds, I want to have it on tape." The tall man just nodded and directed his gaze back at the laptop monitor. It was Ayako, who still had doubts.

"And when do I start? Before wonder boy, or after?" she asked Naru not too happily.

"As much as I understood it could be done ether way...but if at all possible I would like you to perform the ritual simultaneously - it may amplify the effect. If the rituals are incompatible, you start first, Matsuzaki-san, then Sawamura-san and eventually Takigawa. John, I'll want you on guard duty. Have plenty of holy water on hand, just in case some of the souls decide to step out of line. Good amount of them might be deranged."

"Got it, Naru, I'll make sure to keep my eye out for the poor souls." John nodded approvingly.

Mai got back with a full pot just a few moments later and already received new orders.

"Mai, call Monk and ask him to come back in the morning before nine."

"Jeesh, hold on a second! Or...you can serve the tea yourself!" the tiny assistant bristled and started to serve tea very slowly. Oliver had to shake his head in exasperation.

Masako took that as her cue to leave. She slipped away quietly and instead of their room went to the kitchen for another pot of tea. He did request her to bring some... Finding Yuuko in the kitchen Masako was nearly ready to run, but the woman noticed.

"Hara-san, is there something you need?" she asked sweetly.

"Oh...I...simply wondered if you would allow me to prepare some tea..." she said reluctantly, not willing to disclose who requested the tea.

"Your colleague just took a full pot to your rooms, dear." the elderly woman told her, seemingly to spare her the trouble, but it only left Masako with little choice but to tell her whom she intended to make the tea for.

"Actually...I intended to bring some to...Makoto-san...he requested it earlier." she squeezed out, feeling very uncomfortable. The older woman's eyes lit up instantly.

"Oh my...well, in that case come here, dear, I'll show you which one he likes best!" she smiled broadly at Masako, making the small girl want for the ground to swallow her.

After torturous ten minutes in the kitchen Masako left with a full pot and two warm blankets...just in case, as Yuuko-san put it. Stepping through the large wooden door of the Hall of Sacred fire she found Makoto on the floor with various parchments around him and small bells on a red ribbon in his hands.

"Masako-san" he acknowledged the girl instantly "Have you brought tea?"

Some similarities between the youngest Sawamura and one Oliver Davis nearly made Masako laugh. Now she understood why it bothered Mai so much.

"I have. And you should very well be grateful; it cost me over ten minutes alone with your mother. She seemed very pleased." Masako said, not trying to hide the sarcasm in her voice. Even from the door she could hear him snigger.

"Sorry about that, she can be a bit...well..." The medium just smiled and came to sit beside him. It will be a long night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it for this chapter and the next one will be the cleansing itself and conclusions to this case. I hope you enjoyed it so far and will stay with me for the closing of this Case file! The last chapters should come along pretty soon ^.^


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, the closing chapter of this case. This was quite a long journey and I hope I didn't bore you to death, but eventually we reached the end ^.^
> 
> So have at it! Let's get to work!

The sun was yet to rise when Naru was already up and about, demanding his morning tea from half asleep Mai. The poor assistant was tempted to throw a cup at his head, but still complied – he was not the only one in need of tea. Drowsy John sat at the table with his face in his palm, dozing off and soon Masako came in, along with young Sawamura.

Mai would have gladly teased her friend and colleague for spending second night in a row with a handsome young man...but really didn't have it in her. They were all tired, and Mai still had a huge weight on her chest. Yasuhara-san. If she had been more careful, if she thought before acting...he wouldn't be in a hospital bed right now. She knew Monk will be around soon and maybe give them some good news.

"Sawamura-san." Naru spoke up first. He was probably the only one capable of forming full length thoughts "Was your night fruitful?"

Mai had to snort. From anyone else that sentence would come out as inappropriate to say the least, but she had a feeling her idiot scientist couldn't care less.

Masako chocked. Makoto just raised a brow, but chose to ignore the innuendo altogether "Yes it was, I managed to create an alternative ritual, nearly identical, just with some minor changes."

"Could the two be used simultaneously?"

"They could, but I highly doubt your employee will agree to do it. She is not very happy about me intruding into your investigation."

"Ignore her." Naru said plainly. He was too tired for her antics, even if he loathed acknowledging it. The museum will open at ten in the morning, he knew. Their primary client will be there to witness, whether they succeed or not and the tourists will be there to suffer the consequences should they fail.

"I'll do my best..." Makoto said half joking. The redhead was not exactly easy to ignore...

Monk came around in less than ten minutes, bleary eyed and clearly beat. "Morning..." he muttered and sat down for some tea. Mai gave him a cup instantly and sat down beside the rocker waiting for news."Monk...how is he?" she asked timidly.

"Better than expected. Our young man woke up yesterday night and was coherent enough. His head hurts and his leg will take time to heal, but don't worry, Mai-chan, he'll be fine." the Monk said gently, ruffling Mai's hair.

"Maybe we should send a replacement for Matsui-san? Is he alright staying there?" She wondered out loud.

"No...I think he wouldn't go if you tried to drag him away..." Takigawa said in a strange tone. Despite the weariness his face had turned slightly red and Mai couldn't, for the life of her, understand why.

By eight the whole team was already by the table, having small breakfast and bustling with preparations. They left just minutes later in a strange line of assorted weirdoes.

Namely: a man with various recording equipment on his shoulders, another one dressed in black only, a Buddhist monk in full gear, a woman with a huge staff in her hands, a very grumpy Miko, followed by a Catholic priest and two people, dressed in traditional clothing. Now that's a sight early in the morning, Mai thought as she followed the end of the line, beside Masako.

When they reached the ruins sun was already up, but still bright red, painting everything around them in fiery shades of orange. Grimly the boss spoke up.

"Are we all ready?"

Nods and hums of approval were heard from everyone around, so Naru decided it's time to start the show.

"Hara-san, you go first, call up Kaiyo for us. Then we decide what to do next." Masako just nodded and stepped away from the group. In a second she closed her eyes.

"Kaiyo-san, come speak to us. Please come forth, we need to hear you." Masako said quietly and that was enough – her eyes grew dim for a moment and another voice spoke.

"Thank you for coming back for us." Kaiyo said instead of a greeting.

"We promised to. Tell me, Kaiyo-san, have you found someone to help us?" Naru asked, straight to business – they had very little time, after all.

"I have. Not many dared to trust other human beings after so long... but I found nine of us, who will help. Is that enough?"

"It will have to do. We will bring in our own guides to help with the task. Ask your friends to be ready, you will know when to start." At that Kaiyo just nodded and left Masako's body abruptly, just this time she didn't fall down. Naru turned towards Yukiko instantly.

"Kamishiro-san, would you mind calling up some help for us?"

"Of course." The black haired woman answered instantly and stepped forth with her staff and drum. "Maybe I should create a sacred space, so we could communicate with our friendly ghosts directly, without tiring Hara-san?"

"Is that possible?" Oliver asked curiously. It was not an ability he had seen her demonstrate before.

"Yes."

"Then do it. Lin, turn on the camera and sound recording." Naru reminded. He didn't want to miss any of the possible data on this unusually multicultural cleansing. When the equipment was running Yukiko walked further away from the crowd and laid her drum on the ground. Hitting it with the staff once, she started to sing quietly. The mountain and the winds seemed to accompany her voice, merging it with the elements. Words of an unfamiliar language along with the steady beat of the drum filled the clearing, bouncing off of trees and mountains themselves. Makoto stood there wide eyed, he couldn't stop but grab Masako's sleeve. "What tradition is this?" he asked in shock.

"Icelandic. She is a Volva, a type of ancient Icelandic witch." The medium answered quietly and refused to elaborate. Youngest Sawamura could only nod.

Further in the clearing one after another spirits started to step out of thin air. They were women of all ages and sizes, each holding a staff. Proud and tall they stood in a large circle around the entire clearing, encasing the team in a strange circle of light. At least thirty glowing spirits were surrounding them. Half of the women bent down on one knee and laid one of their hands on the ground, while others stepped forward. The song abruptly stopped.

"Those of you we call friends today, come forward into the circle, so we could all see and hear you." Yukiko spoke in loud, almost regal tones. Bidding her command several spirits stepped in from all corners and made the entire team gasp. They stood in front of...sort of mirror reflections of themselves.

Kaiyo, the medium girl with short black hair only a little taller than Masako, came to stand before her.

Oliver was greeted by two young people holding hands. They seemed eighteen or nineteen, but it was hard to say which one was the boy and which one – the girl. They were both very thin and had their hair cut short. Ryu and Ame. To the young scientist's great shock, he could suddenly feel a hand wrap around his palm and knew without looking, who it was. Nobody else held his hand the same way. Turning his face to the side he predictably saw a mirror image. Gene was there, beside him, smiling sweetly.

A young boy, shorter than Mai, with light brown eyes - just like hers - came to stand before the assistant. "I-Inori-kun?" Mai asked carefully. She was starting to see the pattern. The boy just smiled with a nod. It was him, who had dreams, just like Mai.

A lovely woman around forty, accompanied by the white fox they saw yesterday, came to bow in front of Sawamura Makoto and the young man bowed even lower in greeting of his mentor. Ayame.

The rest kept their distance, but bowed respectfully none the less.

Finding his voice Oliver spoke up "Thank you for coming to our aid. We hope we can end this suffering for you, once and for all. You have endured enough. Are you ready?"

"We are. It is long overdue, that we leave this forsaken place." Spoke a man around thirty. His head was shaved haphazardly, leaving nasty cuts on it.

"Then let's begin. We expect you to lead or even coerce, if necessary, the ones, who refuse to come to the cleansings. Can you do that?"

"We can." Answered another woman with short brown hair and raggedy clothes. She had burns on her neck and head.

For the first time in his life Oliver felt a little shaky before a cleansing. Somehow the whole situation hit a little too close to home - were they born fifty years earlier, this horrible fate might have been theirs. "Matsuzaki-san, Sawamura-san, begin." He said as loudly and steadily as he could. Gene squeezed his hand.

Surprisingly, there were no arguments and both Shinto practitioners stepped up and stood solemnly in front of one another in the middle of the circle. Dark and light. Makoto's black robes, marked with red of the spider lilies and Ayako's white and red outfit seemed to reflect the everlasting balance of the world.

Ayako had a small bottle of sake in her hands and bowed to the trees, spilling some of the alcohol here and there – as a gift to the elder spirits. She cut a small branch of pine and tied a bell around it.

Makoto had no sacrifices with him, but he held red ribbon with two tiny bells on it. "Masako-san, would you mind?" He asked quietly reaching his hand out and giving her the ribbon. The medium stepped closer and wordlessly looped the red stripe of material around his wrist, binding it securely, then bowed and moved away quietly.

As Ayako placed the tiny branch in the snow they both held their hands up in prayer position and spoke simultaneously:

"I stand here today to beseech the gods. I call upon them to descend from the heavens and join us where no gods dwell...to end this ceaseless suffering."

" _I stand here today to beseech the gods. I call upon them to descend from the heavens and join us where no gods dwell...to end this ceaseless suffering_."

"I ask that my humble plea may be heard and peace may be restored onto the spirits trapped in this unhallowed place. "

" _I ask that my humble plea may be heard and peace may be restored onto the spirits trapped in this unhallowed place_. "

"May this growth reflect the high heavenly plane..."

_"May this ancient land restore its power and glory..."_

"May the gods of the four corners come together as one..."

" _May the old gods of this land come together as one..."_

"Rin...Pyou...Tou..."Upon the firs reciting of the nine bindings bells on the branch and the ones on the red ribbon rang equally loudly, filling the air with the clear and melodic sound and seemingly making it brighter by the minute. The fog that surrounded the hospital for decades began to clear out and white spirits of the trees came closer – elderly men and women from ancient times proudly stepped into the bells on Ayako's branch, making them ring over and over again.

Only when the last tree spirit disappeared SPR noticed other spirits standing around them by the edge of the forest. A large elk, with horns almost two meters high came into the circle first. Makoto bowed to the spirit and reached out his hand to pet the creature's nose. Upon first contact the magnificent animal disappeared into the bells on his hand. Then a large boar walked out - It had red markings on his sides and three pairs of eyes - and also came to disappear into the bells. One after another four more spirits came out of the shadows of the woods and bowed to the young exorcist before disappearing into the bells on his wrist. The last one was a snow white fox with seven tails.

When the last bell stopped ringing the assault began.

Tens of spirits felt the pull towards the exorcists and walked closer as Ayako and Makoto stood back to back and moved their hands to let the bells ring, cleansing the spirits.

But by far not all seemed to want to come closer. Then their comrades walked out, resisting the pull to be free, and went into the forest to lead some of the lost spirits closer, depositing them in front of the exorcists and turning away to repeat the trip. Women, men, children...they all wandered or were led closer just to come back to reality.

Mai observed with wide, tear filled eyes as the empty gazes, which made her so sad when she first saw the spirits, suddenly came back to life and regained full consciousness. One after another they disappeared in peace.

It all seemed so peaceful...until Masako came to squeeze Mai's hand almost painfully. When the tiny brunette turned to ask what's wrong, the panic on medium's face cut her short. Following the gaze of terrified grey eyes Mai saw bluish purple lights – spirits – rising out of the ruins of the hospital. It was the same ones, who attacked Yasuhara and Mai yesterday. They were slowly taking form of people and forcefully dragging the other souls back to the building.

"Masako...Who are they?" Mai asked in a shaky voice.

"The doctors...and nurses." The medium girl explained quietly "The patients were not the only ones who died in the fire..."

"So these are...? I thought I heard children...?" Mai felt the chill running up her spine. These spirits seemed unhappy about their rituals – they were taking their patients - prisoners - away. Slowly the purple figures came closer to the team, threatening to attack Yukiko first, as she was the closest.

"Lin-san! Monk! John!" Mai yelled at the top of her lungs. All three men turned to see the coming danger, but since it was Yukiko, who was the first target, Lin reacted instantly. A deafening whistle split the air and two closest purple spirits disappeared, pierced by the sorcerer's Shiki. John came into action next, splashing holy water all over the ground and the spirits, preventing them from coming closer.

"Takigawa!" Naru ordered without moving from his spot "Try to exorcise them. John, make sure they don't come too close!"

When Monk began chanting the whole place seemed to almost tremble with energy. The spirits of hospital employees pulled back, wailing, but they also tried to drag as many innocent souls back with them to the ruins. Mai looked in unadulterated fear, as the poor spirits of dead patients tried to get away. There was nothing she could do, and yet she had to do _something_...so the tiny girl just ran into the middle of the circle and fell to her knees.

"Inori-kun! Ayame-san!" she yelled out all the names of the spirits she could remember and they turned towards her from various places – some closer, some further in the woods "You have to help us! These people tortured you, hurt you, and didn't treat you like you're human, but they are humans too...They were left here to die, just like you! They are stuck here, just like you! If you leave and let them stay, they can hurt somebody else!"

She could barely speak through the tears, but they needed to know "Please, take them to the light, tell them they are forgiven! You are strong enough now! You are not prisoners anymore! You are free and there are so many of you, you can do it! Lead them to the light!"

Mai lost all power when the last words left her mouth, so she just doubled over in the snow and cried and cried until seemingly eons later warm palms wrapped around her shoulders. Naru had to almost forcefully pull her up to see her good work.

"Well done, Mai." He whispered quietly into her ear, holding her shaking shoulders, and she finally dared to open her eyes.

It was a sight to behold.

Patients have heard her. Spirits in the circle stopped and changed direction, adding more and more in numbers as they came closer to the ruins. The sheer mass of former prisoners engulfed the purple spirits...they seemed to almost drown in the sea of white. Slowly the large crowd moved towards the two weary exorcists in the centre of the circle. They adamantly raised their bells and turned towards the tidal wave coming at them.

With each ring of sacred bells the good and the twisted spirits faded into the light equally until there was only few left. However the ancient powers in the bells have somehow decided the ritual is over and the bells from Ayako's branch and Makoto's hand fell to the ground with a last piercing ring. The spirits of the forest and the trees dispersed - left to rest quietly. All but one.

The white fox stayed and walked up to one of the remaining spirits – Ayame. The twins, Inori...all their guides remained in this world. Mai suddenly felt horrible...What if they cannot leave now? They have done so much for the entire team, they worked so hard, and now...

However the ghosts seemed perfectly calm. Ayame greeted her familiar gently "Thank you, old friend." She smiled bending down and kissing the animal on the forehead. It only nuzzled her face gently "But it's time for me to go and for you to choose a new companion, if you wish." The fox just licked one side of her face and stepped back, going straight towards Sawamura Makoto. Young man stood speechless in front of the minor god – he could not believe this is actually happening. Bending down on one knee Makoto reached his hand out, but stopped it inches away, leaving the beast a choice to walk away. It simply craned its neck and pressed white snout into the young man's hand. That very moment a small red line formed around his wrist as his blood seeped out from the tiny cut and one singular drop fell onto the frozen ground. The deal was sealed.

"Wise choice." Ayame spoke smiling. Then she simply bowed to the team and faded away. Inori came closer to Mai and held out his hand palm up, waiting. When she finally dared to lay her own palm over it, the boy just smiled, whispered 'Thank you' and disappeared. Kaiyo and the tall bald man held hands, bowed and departed as well.

Finally Mai realised – these few spirits never needed their help to move on in the first place – they were here for all these years willingly, trying to help the others. While being victims themselves, they were also the saviours of all the people, who shared their horrible fate. Even when the world chose to abandon these poor souls and bury every trace of their existence...among them rose few brave ones, who, even after death, never lost their humanity and never gave up.

The twins also bowed towards the team, smiling for the first time and silently left to, perhaps, start their life anew. When Naru turned to look for his own brother, Gene was nowhere to be seen, but the young scientist knew he's never far away.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

That morning blossomed into a bright and sunny day. The client was happy, the fog was gone and forty years of suffering only left small scars upon the land – nature is surprisingly resilient after all.

The entire SPR team was so tired they had to sleep for most of the afternoon just to be able to leave in the early evening. Family offered them to stay for longer, but knowing Naru, Mai was sure he will run as soon as he can. And she also had suspicions about the motherly Yuuko-san and her strange looks in Masako's direction...Her little guesses came to reality upon their departure.

"Shibuya-san, thank you for your hard work and the risks your team took to help us. We'll be forever grateful. Should we ever be of service, don't doubt to ask. We'll be more than happy to see you all again, and Masako-chan, we hope to see you very soon. I've already taken the liberty to make arrangements with your father."

Masako turned even paler than usual and stared wide eyed at the woman, then her son. Makoto was pinching the bridge of his nose " _Mother..."_ was all he squeezed out, but the tone was telling enough. With a sigh he walked into the house briskly and came back a second later, striding up straight to Masako.

"Ignore them. It works well for me." He said rather annoyed then the tone turned softer "I will cancel this idiocy if you want."

"It's not that I don't want to see you again...just to be watched by our entire families..." She trailed off blushing and looking down. Only because of the angle she clearly saw his large palm wrapping around her small hand and pressing something tiny – a piece of paper – into it.

"Then let's leave them to have their date and have one of our own." He said in a conspiratorial whisper. When she looked up in shock a wide smirk was spread over the young man's face. He honestly enjoyed defying expectations and it seemed contagious. Masako could feel the flutter of adventure tickle her chest and smiled widely back, pulling the small scrap of paper into her sleeve. With a small nod two young people walked away in separate directions leaving an entire crowd in stunned silence.

"You go, Masako!" Mai yelled suddenly, punching her fist in the air and running after her friend. Loud laughter filled the open space all the way back to the cars.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, here we are folks! Another case closed! I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! ^.^ However, I was thinking of writing a little...or not so little...extra chapter to do with the continuation of the relationships between cases, but I need advice...Would you like a little extra romance?


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, my dear readers!
> 
> Due to some interest (cough cough Raison_detre) and my own love for these idiots...in spirit of upcoming Christmas ,here is the last chapter for this story. The case is over, but the relationships continue!
> 
> WARNING: There's an open sex scene in this chapter. If it may bother you, please only read the first half of this chapter ^.^
> 
> All right, here goes!

Only few days after SPR team returned from the temple in Aomori the usual routine settled back in. Naru was rejecting cases over and over again and of course it was Mai, who had to deal with the unhappy customers. Thankfully it was already afternoon and there were no interviews left for today, so she just sat at her desk, as per usual, and filled the paperwork for their case of unfortunate psychics. That is until a familiar request rang out in the silence:

"Mai, tea!"

"Right, sure, you damn tea addict." She muttered under her breath and louder added "Okay, okay."

"Make yourself a cup, I want to ask you something." Oliver said from his office and it struck Mai as odd. She remembered nearly the same situation not too long ago. After that lovely conversation she had started to bring her injuries back to reality out of her dreams. The tiny assistant honestly hoped this time the news will be better.

With a fresh pot she sneaked into his office dreading the upcoming conversation. When a cup was already in front of Oliver's nose she sat down and prompted almost fearfully:

"Well...um, what is it? Please don't tell me it's something bad, like last time!" She didn't manage to hold back from saying.

"What?" The scientist lifted his head in slight confusion.

"Well the last time you wanted to talk to me in the middle of working day was when you told me about the peak in energy...and then the whole mess followed...so I'm kind of worried, you know?" she smiled scratching her cheek. It was silly.

"No, it's nothing bad, Mai." Oliver smiled sadly. He never realized that's how it looks like from her perspective. He values his working hours highly, but to let it get so far, that his girl thinks something is bad when he simply wants to speak to her... _'I need to learn moderation'_ the ghost hunter admitted to himself. Out loud he added "I just wanted to know if you are free this evening. I'd like to take you out for dinner, it's been a while."

"Oh..." Mai blushed lightly. It was the first time Naru ever asked her out to dinner on his own free will. The other couple of times it was Mai's nagging to go out on a date like normal people...but when was Oliver ever normal? So the former two times they ended up in fancy restaurants with great food and too much cutlery for Mai's taste. She couldn't exactly complain, but those places – with their fancy waiters and even fancier customers – made her feel second best, so she didn't ask for any more dates.

"Mai? Mai!" Naru said somewhere very close and broke her out of her musings. He was sitting on the arm of her chair, as per his usual habit, and looking down on her. "So, are you free this evening?"

"Um...yeah, sure. Should I try and dress nice?" she asked timidly, still easily affected by close proximity.

"No. Anything is fine." He said swiftly realizing the second mistake he's done before. Though people thought he was oblivious to any emotional context of a situation it was nearly impossible with his level of intellect. The scientist just chose to ignore the subtle emotional undertones most of the time...and it seems he's done it too often, judging by Mai's slight reluctance to go out with him. Oliver bent down and kissed the brunette gently, just for a moment longer than a chaste kiss would be. "Is seven alright with you?"

"Yup." She smiled broadly up at him, the lovely pink cheeks almost glowing. "I'll have enough time to get back home to change."

"You can go home an hour early today. We have no customers anyway." He tried to give her some free time as a piece offering. "I'll pick you up at seven."

"Really...? Um, great! I'll be off in half an hour. I'll see you at seven!" she chirped happily and pecked him on the lips before running off. Oliver looked after his cheery, warm hearted girl for a long moment before returning to his desk. Whatever she saw in him he will never understand, but he knew he needs to make this evening nice for her before asking some important questions...so preparations need to be made.

Mai rummaged in her closet that evening, looking for something suitable. He said it didn't have to be fancy, but she still wanted to look nice and with the cold weather outside it wasn't so easy. Eventually the small girl settled on a nearly knee length knitted dress and ankle high winter boots. It was warm and the dark, mustard yellow looked good on her. When she went out to meet Oliver down below what shocked her was his wardrobe choices. The black was gone for once, replaced by dark blue jeans and a grey turtleneck under his pea coat. It looked odd, even though she had seen him in _not black_ clothes before. The trip to the restaurant was quiet. To Mai it seemed almost like Naru was lost in his head, like the times he plans a strategy for a cleansing...except there was nothing to cleanse this time – they had no case. So it was a pure mystery to her as to why the whacky scientist got lost in his head. She could take offense, but long learned not to – it's part of who he is and she did promise to always forgive him his peculiarities.

When the quiet trip was finally over they stepped out onto the street in front of a surprisingly small restaurant, but to Mai's great shock the exterior of the place had very little reflection on the establishment inside. It was gorgeous – an actual fireplace was burning inside, the tables were wooden and looked somewhat old but very cozy. But the most beautiful thing was the lighting. There were no lamps, no chandeliers, just small string lights hanging in the branches of trees placed all around the place between tables. Connected together they made a lovely spider web of warm, welcoming lights making the main hall look like it's bathed in candle light.

"Naru, it's so beautiful here!" Mai squealed clutching his elbow in excitement.

"I...hoped you might like it." He said somewhat uncertainly. The tone was so unusual on him Mai found it absolutely adorable.

When they were escorted to a lovely table off the side Mai noticed one more decoration she fell in love with instantly. There was a huge LIVE Christmas tree about two meters high not too far away from their table. She had always seen and used fake, plastic trees so this one was fascinating to the little assistant – the branches were bigger but the needles smaller and it actually _smelled_ like the forest, like Christmas. She sat there staring at it and didn't even notice Oliver taking the menus from the water. When he forced Mai to look away and actually choose something to eat she was not too happy to say the least.

"I want to have a tree in the office this year. Can I?" she asked after they were done with the order. "I know it's troublesome and unnecessary and you don't really like the Christian tradition...and I'm not even Christian... but it'll only be a small one and I'll put in the corner..." The brunette tried to get as many points out before he interrupted her and started to argue against it, but the confrontation never came.

"If you want to." The young scientist relented quite easily. It was fascinating to watch her so worked up about something as silly as a Christmas tree and, frankly, much easier to let her have her little victory and watch the joy sparkle in those big brown eyes than try to argue with her. But she seemed to have the wrong idea about the roots of Christmas tree tradition, so he decided to humour her and tell the real story.

"And just for your benefit, I'll let you know decorating trees is technically not a Christian tradition. It was pagan long before Christianity adopted the idea. Pagans believed that the woods are full of little forest spirits, who lived in the trees. But during the winter the only green trees are the evergreens, so the legend said, that all the spirits would gather in those trees for the winter. And when the winter solstice night drew near and the weather got colder and colder they would bring the evergreen trees inside to keep all the forest spirits warm. They'd hang small gifts and treats on the branches for the spirits to enjoy and also silver bells to let the owners of the house know when a spirit is present."

"Wha-? What really? Then are there actual spirits in Christmas trees?" Mai stared at him, usually big eyes bulging out of sockets.

"Not that I know of, but you can try and see for yourself..." He said smiling a little. Mai instantly turned her head to the side and started to intently stare at the decorated evergreen branches. Wondering what exactly she's seeing Oliver reached his hand out and took her small palm. The vivid connection took him by surprise – all the colours seemed brighter and the glow softer...it was ten times more beautiful, but then Mai turned towards him. Oliver never really paid too much attention to how he looks like. Of course he knew people generally thought he was handsome, so he adapted the approach, but he could never see it looking in the mirror. Not until now. When Mai turned towards him, he saw, for the first time, himself through her eyes. He looked so different – brighter, softer, kinder, and by far more handsome, than the reflection in his mirror every morning. Though he may have hated to admit it, it left the infamous Oliver Davis slightly stricken.

"Naru?" Mai asked hesitantly, a little concerned for her boyfriend, who looked slightly out of it. Only then did she fully realize the implications of his hand on hers. "That new ability of yours...is it still there?"

"Yes." The black haired teen answered absently.

"How are you going to deal with this? I mean you'll have to touch people in some situations, like the doctor's office, or during interviews, when you shake the client's hand sometimes...or ..."

"Mai. Mai, calm down. It's not an issue." Oliver said a little more strictly, than he wanted to. His little assistant fell silent instantly, but he could feel the jab through their connected hands. Everything felt exaggerated in her mind – the good things, and the bad. Feeling guilty the scientist added much more gently "It's not an issue, because I can't connect to all people...Just you. For some reason I can feel you the way I used to feel Gene...and even more. I tried with Lin the other day and it didn't work. Same happened with John. It's...It's just you."

The confession left Mai warm and tingly. She shyly pulled her hand away - just to be sure he couldn't hear her heart screaming with joy. Only when she looked up at him to find a strange distant expression on his face, did she realized she might have made a mistake. Unfortunately the waiter chose that moment to lay down their dinner in front of two silent teenagers. When the man moved away Naru picked up his tools without another word and started to eat slowly. Mai felt panic rising up her throat.

"Um...Oliver?" she tried hesitantly and he lifted his face up, but it was the face of Shibuya Kazuya – a blank mask. Trying to quench the panic she reached her hand back out with the idea, that it will be easier to show him, instead of explaining it "Give me your hand."

"I'd rather not." he answered tonelessly, but Mai could almost physically feel the hurt she had caused "It seemed to bother you."

"Of course it did, you idiot! You can feel my emotions, hear my thoughts that way! It's...it's embarrassing!" she nearly yelled and had to remind herself to keep it down, in Monk's voice, of course. That earned her a real and marginally uncertain glance from those cobalt blue eyes. "Come on, give me your hand and you'll see for yourself."

"You know, Mai, sometimes I wish it would be the other way around. It would be so much easier to just show it all to you, even if it's a mess from time to time." Oliver confessed quietly and reached his hand out to brush the tips of their fingers. The strength of their connection took him by surprise, traveling through his body like lightning. First emotion he felt was affection so pure and seemingly endless in it's vastness, that it left him wondering how can it fit into one human being. Then came fear of rejection and guilt for hurting his feelings and finally, love seeped through their fingers to curl up comfortably somewhere in his rib cage. A lump formed in the young man's throat but he pushed it down, just to be a able to speak.

"I love you too. I can't hope to ever have emotions as strong or bright or vast, like yours, but I will love you with every drop of those I have. I just hope it will be enough for you."

"N-naru...So long as it's all mine, I'll be happy." She whispered face burning like a furnace.

"Oh, believe me, it's all yours. I don't share." he smiled a little and lifted her hand up, pulling it to his lips for a small kiss. ' _Now is as good a time as any'_ Naru decided and gathered the courage to spill the beans. "Actually I brought you here for a reason...I wanted to ask a favour of you..."

"Does it have to do with research again?" Mai asked remembering how their last 'research' ended with both of them bothered and hot.

"No, not this time." Oliver said smiling a little "I...You see, my parents are coming to visit for Christmas and I wondered if you...perhaps would like to meet them? I must warn you, though, that my mum will ask weird and inappropriate questions and try to tell horrific childhood stories, but I promise to keep her on a short leash."

"Oliver, are you sure? I mean I'm just a teenage girl, with no degrees, no money and...you know, they might think I'm not...you know...good enough for you." Mai asked hesitantly, shocked by the request.

"Then they would be bigger idiots, than I thought. I don't need money, Mai, I have my own and degrees are acquired, if you want them...that's not the point. I want them to meet my girlfriend. And believe me, they will love you, my mum most likely too much..." he added the last sentence as an afterthought.

"Well, in that case, I'll be happy to hear the embarrassing childhood stories..." she smiled a watery smile at her crazy scientist, who sometimes manages to say the most beautiful things.

"That's what I was afraid of." Oliver smiled at her brightly for the first time in forever. "Though my mom is a bit picky about dancing skills, should we practice?" Only then Mai noticed there was music in the room, she was so lost in her world before, she didn't even hear it. A small band played something similar to french chansons and a couple of pairs were already on the dance floor.

"I...I don't know how to dance..." she confessed scared out of her mind.

"That's exactly the point of the exercise. And you don't have to know how to dance, that's my job." He said standing up and reaching his hand out to her. Mai took it hesitantly and allowed him to lead her to the polished dance floor feeling terrified to say the least. When he stood in front of her and put his hand on her waist Mai thought she will pass out, her heart was beating too fast. _'People are watching'_ was the only thing running through her mind.

"Let them watch." Oliver whispered into her ear, though Mai was sure she didn't say it out loud. The song was slow and sensual, too sexy for her to handle, so when Naru's hand tightened around her waist and he pushed her body back a little, the girl nearly blacked out. "Mai, close your eyes if it will be easier. I'll sway us back and forth, just like this..." True to his word Oliver started to sway them both to the rhythm, slowly and easily. Mai wrapped her arms around his neck and closed her eyes just for a moment. The crowd faded away second by second, leaving her to enjoy the feel of his shoulders under her hands, the short hair on his nape tickling her fingers. The smell of his cologne. It was almost hypnotic, the slow rhythm, and Mai's body started to relax. When she was comfortable enough to open her eyes first sight imprinted in her vision was Naru, smiling gently with his eyes fixed on her face. In that moment she didn't need special powers to feel the love emanating through those stormy eyes.

They swayed and turned, and Oliver even dipped her a few times through song after song. With every moment their connection forged into something stronger and clearer, so by the end of a slow waltz, when he pulled her close Mai surged forward and melted their lips together knowing full well it's what they both want. If some wolf whistles could be heard from the crowd, she couldn't care less...

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The same week another pair finally returned home...More or less. Yasu has finally been released from the hospital, but instead of returning to his own room, he stood in front of the door to Tsuyoshi's apartment. The doctors told him he might need some help for the first few days, so it was ether going back to his family or staying with his...boyfriend.

"I hate this thing already and it's only the first day!" Yasu complained as he walked through the door of Tsuyoshi's apartment with the help of a crutch. The space was not much larger than his own, just the reception area was smaller and the bedroom larger. He put the crutch down to try and take off his shoes.

"You'll get used to it in a few days." Tsuyoshi answered soothingly, putting their bags down and taking off his own shoes.

"And you would know because...?"

"I've spent over two months in the company of this lovely device. After the bullet shattered the bone above my knee it took a while for it to heal." He explained nonchalantly. Tsuyoshi knew his young man will not make the small reminder into something melodramatic, and that was one of his best traits.

"I'll take your word for it then." The black haired boy just smiled up from the bench he was sitting on. Finally without shoes he made to get up and reached for his crutch but Tsuyoshi got in the way, wrapped his arms around Yasu and lifted him up with ease. It only made the younger man laugh.

"What is this? I'm a damsel in distress now?"

"Oh no, just a little special treatment for my beautiful, brilliant, _incapacitated_ young man." The white haired man grinned as he strode straight to the bed and sat Yasu on it.

"Why am I in bed? I just got out of one!" he complained only half heartedly. The leg _was_ starting to throb, along with his head.

"Because you need to keep your leg level. Now up on the bed. I'll get us both some tea." With a smile and small kiss on the temple Matsui was gone. Osamu crawled back onto the bed and settled with his back against the headboard.

All the time in the hospital he knew there was something he needed to say to the older man, he just couldn't find the right words. Though they were together Yasu knew his older lover was holding back, going very slowly – in bed and otherwise. The reason was obvious to the university student – he was waiting for the other shoe to drop. For him to decide he is not really gay, or even bisexual...for him to choose to return to his previous life and not bother with explaining this relationship to anyone. Osamu thought he could wait it out before the accident, but now...he decided nearly dying does give you perspective. The young man knew now, more than ever, that this is what he was afraid to lose the most – the chance to come back to Tsuyoshi's plainly furnished apartment, sit by the kitchen isle and have tea with the other man. Tease him rotten and get teased in return without holding back. Warm, rough hands on his body...the other man's hot breath on his neck...the way his jaw clenches just before his peak. He loved it all too much to live one moment longer without fully embracing it. So Tsuyoshi Matsui better be ready for a serious conversation. When the man in question walked back to him with two large mugs of peppermint tea Yasu took a deep breath.

"Tsuyoshi-san...I need to talk to you about something."

"What is it? Are you alright?" The other man asked settling down on the side of the bed, but Yasu patted the pillow beside him. Without a second of doubt Matsui climbed onto the large bed and settled beside Yasu with his hand over the student's shoulders.

"Well?" he prompted carefully.

"I'm not quite sure how to start this..." Osamu spoke uncharacteristically quietly, looking at the steam rising from his mug.

"I have heard that line before..." Tsuyoshi said trying desperately to make it sound light hearted. The boy was very serious about something. ' _Could this be it? Maybe he changed his mind about us... figured out how hard it will be to tell everyone, how much trouble this could bring him and decided it's not worth it?'_ The silver haired man thought and steeled his face into a pleasant mask, waiting for the end patiently. _'Well, old fool...It_ was _too god to begin with...'_

"Please don't make light of what I intend to say. And don't interrupt before I'm done." Yasu said a little louder, finding his resolve.

"Very well."

"I know you are waiting for me to change my mind about this relationship, to somehow decide it's not what I want and run. You give me your love, your care, but refuse to take much from me, as if to leave me intact for someone else."

"Osamu..." The older man started, not really sure what he wants to say. It was true in a way, but that made it no less painful to hear...

"No, let me finish. Please." Yasu stopped him instantly and looked up for the first time, eyes warm and full of resolve. "I...honestly want you to stop waiting for the other shoe to drop. This relationship is the best and happiest I have ever had, if the others could even be called a relationship. I did it out of pure social conditioning, just because it's normal, but in reality it was only tiring and burdensome. When...I fell down that damn basement all I could think of was...will I ever get to see you again? In the hospital bed it was your voice that helped me to come back to reality. I want this. More than I have ever wanted anything in my life. And I refuse to have you keeping me at an arm's length. I want to be yours fully and I want you to be mine. If you don't think you want it like that..." He took a deep breath to somehow continue but never had the chance.

"Stop. Osamu, darling, please stop. I get it. I...have no idea what good have I ever done to deserve this, but I get it." Tsuyoshi nearly choked on his own words. This was not what he expected and now, hearing the honest confession he felt his heart clench painfully. "Are you sure you won't regret it later? It won't be easy to make this official..."

"Do you want me?" came a question instead of an answer. Fierce grey eyes were looking up at him, pinning him to the spot.

"One can want a table, a car...a new tie. You don't want people – you love them." Taking a deep breath Tsuyoshi closed his eyes for a second and opened them again to look at the beloved pale features. The moment of truth came and he'd be a coward if he kept it to himself now. "And I think I have loved you for a while now...just never dared to expect you to stay by my side. Five days were enough for you to somehow sneak into my heart and take up residence there. Four months we spent together only made the feeling stronger, but you are young, and I thought this might just be an experiment for you to try and go through..."

"I love you." Osamu interrupted before his lover got any further. It was unnecessary. "That's the only thing I can think of right now. It's the only thing I thought of saying out loud all that time in the hospital, so...please, can we...?" not sure how to ask someone you already call your boyfriend to be in a relationship with you again, Yasu left the last words hanging. It wasn't for long. The tea was plucked out of his hands and a warm palm settled on his cheek instantly, thumb trailing over his cheekbone for a short second.

"Yes we can. And we will." Tsuyoshi answered honestly before kissing his young man gently on the lips. He almost groaned when soft, familiar palm slid to the back of his head pulling him closer. The older man pulled away before the kiss could get heated and almost laughed when he saw Yasu pouting. "You have a serious head injury, idiot, and a broken leg on top of that...it can wait."

"Cracked, not broken." Osamu reminded dryly, trying to hold back a smile. Then, chewing on his lip insistently decided to be honest about it "And it waited long enough. I...want you to touch me. Please."

Matsui could practically feel his blood run faster, pulsing in his veins and rushing in his ears. Trying to control it he ran his fingers over the student's cheek, then down his neck, tracing a small artery there. His young lover was excited, judging by the pulse. "I am touching you now, darling." Tsuyoshi whispered pulling the lithe body closer and curling his whole palm around the side of that soft neck.

"Not...like this." Yasuhara said slightly breathless, his imagination was running away with him, filling his head with the most delicious fantasies. His head still hurt a little but it was so far away... "You never touch me... _there_..."

Tsuyoshi knew _where_ exactly they were talking about and felt heat crawl up his neck. He nearly lost his young lover just few days ago and the acute feeling of dread was still not far away. The ex-soldier wanted nothing more, than to feel him warm and pulsating with life, writhing in his arms, but it was too soon. "Oh believe me, I want to..." he whispered planting small kisses on every patch of naked skin he could reach "But it's too soon to go all the way, you can barely move, my love." Yasu pulled his face closer, kissing him softly and letting his ragged breath ghost over them both, lips barely touching "Then...j-just your fingers? Please?"

Electricity ran down the older man's spine, making goosebumps rise all over his body. To be asked...pleaded for something like this...it almost made his vision black out and resolve crack for a moment.

"F-fuck...do you have any idea how hard you are making this for me?" he croaked out, took a deep breath and continued a little steadier "Alright...I don't have it in me to say no...But there will be rules."

"It's been a while since we had rules." Yasuhara smiled wickedly up at the familiar dark chocolate eyes, flushing feverishly at the thought of what's to come.

"Well, we'll have some now. Two. First – today you lay back and let me pleasure you. Don't try to touch me or please me in return. Just this once, let me take care of you; and second – if your head or your leg starts to hurt at any time you tell me immediately. I mean it. Do we have a deal?" the older man asked in a surprisingly level voice. Despite the outward control he felt like a teenager, getting to explore their lover for the first time.

"Deal. I promise to be good and obedient." Yasu relented. Knowing his tendency to misbehave and sometimes turn the tables on the older man it was a big promise. Matsui couldn't stop himself from laughing and the mock offended look on the black haired boy's face only made it worse.

"That would be a first..." he squeezed out between fits of laughter and soon they both were cuddled up giggling like idiots. It didn't last long – the warmth and comfort of familiar embrace made them both relax and laughing soon gave way to slow, lazy kisses. In the few months they have spent together Tsuyoshi learned his young lover immensely enjoys kissing – slowly and without rushing it towards something more – they could spend long minutes doing just that...but today he had other plans.

Soon he let his lips travel down along the line of a delicate jaw and lower towards long pale throat. Warm lips traced the visible arteries and veins, effortlessly making the usually alabaster skin turn a lovely shade of pink. He took his time divesting Osamu of his clothes and kissing every inch of newly revealed skin with slow and deliberate movements. They have done this many times before, but this time it felt different, special - it was a contract of possession. Now he knew without a doubt, that the man in his bed wants to be there, wants to be his. So he took his time pulling every article of clothing off till there was nothing left and bathed in the fresh, clean smell of his lover letting it hypnotize him.

Yasu held to his promise and stayed very still. At first he was tempted to tease his gorgeous man for going at a snail's pace, but soon it drew him in and made every little movement seem like a ritual – slow and deliberate – it sensitized his skin almost to the point where a breath could make him arch. Lying on their bed he willed his body to relax completely and accept the loving touches without holding back. Never in his life had he ever felt so loved - like something sacred, priceless.

The older man's hands and lips were everywhere - from his wrists to the dips of his elbows...shoulders, waist, thighs...anywhere but the place he needed them most. By the time Tsuyoshi had mapped his way back up his good leg Osamu was leaking and whimpering embarrassingly, but couldn't care less.

"Please...oh, Please..." he whispered biting his lips and twisting his hands in the sheets in desperate effort not to move, still Tsuyoshi just hummed against his skin and kept the slow pace nibbling up his thigh, until he finally reached the throbbing member in between. When his shaft was swallowed whole Yasu's mind went blank and the universe contracted to the feel of hands on his skin, lips, so wickedly skilled, smell of Tsuyoshi's aftershave.

Too soon Tsuyoshi asked him to turn on his stomach Osamu did so dazedly, nearly forgetting his leg was in a cast. A small pang of pain brought him back to reality, but did very little to lessen the excitement burning in his veins. Then the hands were gone and he felt stranded for a moment, face buried in the pillows.

"I'll be back in a second, darling, I'm not going anywhere." familiar voice whispered into his right ear and a small kiss was bestowed upon his temple "If you need me, just call out."

"O-okay..." Yasu swallowed thickly and tried to get his mind back around, listening to the movement away in the room. He could just turn over and look, but there was no point. Soon the bed dipped beside him and he heard a small plastic lid being opened with a 'pop'.

"Osamu, does your head or your leg hurt? Just be honest."

"Not really, if I don't move too much...You can't stop now! I will never forgive you if you stop, Tsuyoshi-san!" Yasu said in the steadiest voice he could muster at the moment. It wasn't too impressive.

"I won't, I won't. Just promise me to say something if you feel uncomfortable, okay?" Receiving a vigorous nod the older man grabbed a pillow from the head of the bed and easily lifted Osamu's hips up with a small squeak from the black haired young man. He placed the pillow right under his lover's hips. "Hump it if you need to, darling."

It left Yasu in a very peculiar position, with his face buried in one pillow and his ass propped up high by another. The thought of actually rutting into it made him flush scarlet, it was just too...dirty, obscene and unbelievably hot. Lost in his own thoughts the young man nearly jumped when something slick and wet pressed in between his cheeks.

Tsuyoshi splayed his hand on the small of the younger man's back soothingly "Easy, love." he whispered before dragging his fingers over the small entrance into Osamu's body. Over and over he just massaged the fluttering hole without trying to get inside. The intimate sensation made Yasu squirm on the bed, it wasn't particularly pleasurable, but didn't feel bad ether...The kisses were distracting, though. Slow wet kisses trailed up his spine and soon peppered his shoulders and the back of his neck. When the silver blonde started to nibble on his ear Yasu almost missed the moment a finger slid in slowly working its way against the resistance. It felt odd to have someone else inside his body, like it's a shared space now, not only his own. Soon the slide was easy enough, the slow rhythm reminded him of waves on ocean shore and his hips naturally started to sway in motion with it. The pillow was a strange simulation on it's own, tantalizing pressure, that's never enough. It was starting to drive him insane. When another finger joined the first a small sting of stretch worked it's way up Osamu's spine.

"Does that hurt?" Tsuyoshi whispered into his ear.

"Not really, just a...a bit..." Yasu managed to answer in between controlled breaths.

"You are doing so well, my love. Relax, it will pass soon, I promise." Matsui cooed gently into his ear, kissing the right temple then side of his neck slowly "Do you have any idea how beautiful you are like this?"

All Yasu managed was a small noncommittal sound when those clever fingers started to move and _bend_ and _oh_...Pleasure shot up his spine and blossomed behind closed eyelids making the lithe body arch pressing back against the invading fingers.

"Tsuyoshi-san!" Yasu yelled out half in exclamation half in question.

"That is your prostate, right there..." the older man whispered in a gravely voice, brushing his fingers against the same spot again.

"Ahh..nnh..."

Matsui could barely breathe properly. The feeling of Osamu's body fluttering and clenching around him, the sight of his young lover splayed helplessly on the sheets, clutching the material for dear life...it was intoxicating. He placed his hand on his lover's hip and started to guide the motion, pushing Yasu's hips into the pillow and back against his hand. The sense of love and almost possessiveness took over him for a second and the blonde bent over, sucking a bright red mark into the junction between the pale neck and shoulder. It only made Yasu keen louder and buck his hips against the pillow harder and harder.

Tsuyoshi could feel his own jeans turning almost insufferably tight and confining but tried to ignore it in favour of the vision before his eyes.

"Just like that, gorgeous, fuck my fingers...just like that...Soon, so very soon it will be my cock inside you..." He panted against Osamu's ear, pressing his body down to cover the smaller one beneath.

"Ahh...yes, oh gods...I want it now...nh...please!" Osamu moaned and tried to turn his head for a kiss. One of his wishes was granted, he received a kiss, but the other one was completely ignored, so he tried again "I want you...inside me..."

"Don't plead with me, my love, I'm weak...Not today...Fuck." Tsuyoshi reprimanded breathlessly but couldn't help reaching his free hand out to unbutton his own jeans and push them down a few inches to set his manhood free. He gave it a few messy tugs before speeding up the rhythm of his other hand. Yasu was close, he could see it by the sound of the young man's high pitched wails and a very telling blush now covering not Yasu's face but his shoulders and even chest.

Tsuyoshi reached between the pillow and the writhing body to capture his young lover's member and it only took a few hard strokes before warm liquid splattered onto his hand. The broken cry of pleasure was almost enough to undo him. Bending down to kiss Osamu's shoulders and back he pulled his fingers out and surprisingly, the young man turned over. Despite being hazy and sated he reached his hand out to the blonde, grabbed his palm - the one dripping his own release - and guided it to Tsuyoshi's member, wrapping it tightly around the hard shaft. Only a few strokes of their joined hands was enough to push the older man over the brink.

Long minutes passed in a pleasant and cozy silence, before Tsuyoshi finally spoke up:

"I should have known you won't listen and _will_ find a way to get me off."

"I really like the face you make when you come, it's a sin to lose that sight. And you made it so good for me..." Yasu said snuggling deeper into the nook of his lover's shoulder, trying to hide his face there.

"I assume you liked it? Want a repeat performance?" the blonde chucked kissing the mop of black hair.

"Oh yes, just not today." Osamu said laughing. after a moment he added much more seriously "I want to tell the team soon. This game of you playing the taxi driver has gone too far. Would you mind?"

"I think that's already taken care of...Takigawa has probably raised hell back in the base..."

"I don't think so. He's loud, but Monk's not stupid. He'll let us tell the news ourselves." The university student contemplated out loud.

"Well, then whenever you are comfortable I'll be honored to officially take the title of your boyfriend." Matsui answered in a slightly teasing tone.

"Mai always makes a Christmas party for the entire team, I think it would be nice to break it to them then, what do you think?"

"I think it will be one hell of a party..."

The two men snuggled together laughing and holding each other as close as humanly possible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that's it, folks! I hope you enjoyed it, I sure did! The next fiction most likely will be about Mai meeting Naru's parents...and of course there will be a case incorporated in it. At least I think so XD Till next time!

**Author's Note:**

> That's it for the start of the story, it's a bit slow, but hopefully you will find it interesting enough ^.^


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